m-M 






M' ■''''■ J'i 



*^ji;i;;i„-;,;:5' : ^;;..., ;;'/,'l, ;vf'|;|-.-''' 




























Book Li 3 C < S ^ 



55th Congress, ) SEI^ATE. ( Document 

3d Session. j ( No. 65. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



* OF THE 



f 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 



REPORTS RELATIVE TO THEIR SANITARY CONDITION. 



January 17, 1899.— Presented by Mr. McMillan, 
and ordered to be printed. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 
1899. 






JUN 13 1910 









WASHiNaxoN, D. C, January 14, 1899. 
Sir : I am directed by tlie Civic Center to transmit to you the fol- 
lowing memorial, adopted November 7, 1898 : 

Whereas the results of a joint iuvestigatiou coDclucted by the committee on edu- 
cation of the Civic Center and the Collegiate Alumnje reveal many serious defects 
in the sanitary condition of the public schools in the city of Washington : Therefore, 
be it 

liesolved, That we, the Civic Center, respectfully pray the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives in Congress assembled for a careful consideration of the appropriations 
for the support of our public schools, so that the efforts of those in authority to 
improve the sanitary conditions and to lessen the dangers in the spread of diphtheria, 
scarlet fever, and other infectious diseases may not be frustrated by insufticient 
appropriations. 

I also transmit herewith a report on the sanitary condition of the 
public schools in the city of Washington, embodying the results of a 
joint investigation conducted by the committee on education of the 
Civic Center and the Collegiate Alumnae, together with reports on the 
influence of school life upon the health of children by Drs. William W. 
Johnston, S. Nor dhoff- Jung, Samuel S. Adams, and George M. Kober. 
Very respectfully, 

Katharine P. Hosmer, 

Corresponding Secretary. 
Hon. James McMillan, 

Chairman Committee on the District of Columbia, U. S. Senate. 

3 



EEPOET 

OF THE 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION OF THE CIVIC CENTER AND THE COLLE- 
GIATE ALUMNA ON THE SANITARY CONDITION OF THE PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND THE 
DISCUSSION THEREON NOVEMBER 7. 1898. 



1. lutrodnction. By Dr. Murray Gait Hotter. 

2. The sanitary condition of the public schools. By Mrs. Alia B. Foster. 

3. The influence of school life upon the health of children. By William W. John- 

ston, M. D. 

4. The influence of school life upon the teacher. By Sofie A. Nordhofl^'-Jung, M. D. 

5. Some of the causes of so-called school diseases found in the home. By Samuel S. 

Adams, M. D. 

6. Many of the causes of so-called school diseases found in the school. By George 

M. Kober, M. D. 



REMARKS OF DR. MURRAY GALT MOTTER, CHAIRMAN, IN OPEN- 
ING THE ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING OF THE CIVIC CENTER, 
HELD IN THE CHAPEL OF THE CHURCH OF THE COVENANT, 
WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 7, 1898. 

The Civic Center, believing it to be the duty of citizens to inform 
themselves of their city's condition and needs and to take action there- 
upon, is designed to serve as a civic club for the centralization of all 
such effort, bringing together and cooperating with those who are will- 
ing to devote some portion of their time to the solution of modern 
municipal problems. The organization does not seek to displace, an- 
tagonize, duplicate, or rival any other organization, large or small, which 
aims at the welfare of the city. It will have as its object the attain- 
ment of the highest municipal standards and will study problems to 
which sufficient attention and consideration have not been given. 

It may not be out of place to state just here that the annual mem- 
bership fee is but $1, and all interested are eligible to membership. 
Our expenses are by no means so large as they are necessary. The 
jjurely disinterested character of the work, the earnestness and enthu- 
siasm of the workers, and the generosity of some who, while not of us 
are yet with us in spirit, have enabled us to keep the expense account. 
loAV. Postage, stationery, and sometimes printers' ink, are essentials, 
while occasionally we must employ skilled labor, which hitherto our 
large aims and small means have secured at a cost merely nominal. 

5 



6 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

Work such as we have in hand demands a large expenditure of time, 
energy, and thought. From the painstaking and careful exhibition to 
be made this evening you will, I am sure, be convinced that it is capa- 
ble of making' a large and profitable return. 

The broad and comprehensive aims of this organization may be under- 
stood through a brief review of the work of some of its departments. 

The municipal department has for its field the consideration of gen- 
eral numicipal affairs, taxation and expenditure, the exec^ition of exist- 
ing laws, and regulations and plans for needed legislation. One of the 
most imiDortaut undertakings here has been the abolishment of the slums 
existing in the alleys and the converting of the alleys in large blocks 
into minor streets, thereby changing the blocks into those of normal 
size. One needs but to refer to our local papers to find these alleys 
the hotbeds of murder and rape, arson and theft, assault and battery, 
drunkenness and debauchery, criminality and lawlessnes of all kinds 
and degrees in our very midst. The alley question has been the sub- 
ject of study for several years, and a large work yet remains to be done. 
Following a preliminary investigation in 1895, we had in 1896 ]\Iiss de 
Graft'eureids report on Typical Alley Houses, and in 1897 the small 
apartment houses erected by the Sanitary Improvement Company. The 
first census of the alley population has been taken, but up to this time 
it has been well-nigh impossible to get accurate and reliable data of the 
gruesome details of alley life. 

It is one thing to say, in general terms, that the criminal class lives 
and moves and has its being amid these wretched surroundings; it is 
quite another to show from court or police records that there have been 
murders in Chester court and Madison alley: a fight resulting in a frac- 
tured skull in Logan court; a policeman assaulted in Dingmau alley, 
and his assailant caught in Jackson alley; a resident of Fighting alley 
convicted of keeping a "speak easy;" the keeper of a similar ranch in 
Glick alley failing of conviction — to the astonishment and indignation 
of the judge, be it said — because of the utter distortion of testimony 
before the jury. These, with two exceptions, are all recent cases, but 
we need far more such definite data before we can ask that this or that 
alley be purged. 

The sanitary department has for its field, among other subjects, the 
improvement of the sanitary laws, pure food and water sujiply, garbage 
and sewage disposal, etc. In spite of all our knowledge of water-borne 
diseases, many of us are still drinking the foul, unfiltered Potomac 
water. At the recent session in this city of the Society for Municipal 
Improvement, the advocates of our present system of sewage disposal 
were placed rather on the defensive. That our national capital should 
discharge its sewage into an oi>en stream is a travesty of modern sani- 
tary methods and a menace to all its neighborhood. It Mas said that 
at the present rate of progress the system would probably be completed 
in 1925. Let us hope rather that the completion of this system be even 
more indefinitely posti)oned and, meantime, let us work for a more 
decent, orderly, and healthful disposal of these products. 

The charities department has for its field the modern treatment of 
charity matters and pauperism. The spectacle of our numerous amor- 
phous institutions, supported in large part by public funds but con- 
trolled wholly by private interest, is such as no business man would 
tolerate in the administration of his own affairs. Imagine the condi- 
tions reversed — the funds supplied from private sources entirely and 
the Government demanding control. What a howl of protest would 
arise, and yet, this would be no more unjust than the present arrange- 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 7 

ment. What a curious conditiou of aifairs it is, wlieu a number of 
would-be charitable individuals may band themselves together for the 
purpose of appealing to Congress to give alms in their name and to 
their glory. The reports of our District superintendents of charities 
aftbrd such food for reflection as might well give the whole civic center 
an attack of mental dyspepsia. The sincerity of men who, from the 
exigencies of the situation, are impelled to urge their own official 
decapitation, in order to the appointment of a board of charities, is 
hardly to be doubted. Have we nothing to offer in their support*? 
The enactment of a law providing for the compulsory support of children 
by parents would relieve the city of an item of expense by no means 
small, and the way of charity organization workers would be made 
clear and smooth. 

The educational department has for its field the promotion of school 
work in those branches which are not sufiiciently developed. It is to 
the work of this department that your attention is more especially 
invited this evening. The sanitary conditions of our scliools and the 
effect of school life upon the health of scholars are subjects of vital 
importance; this phase of the subject will now be presented to you. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION OF THE CIVIC 
CENTER AND THE COLLEGIATE ALUMNiE ON THE SANITARY 
CONDITION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF 
COLUMBIA. 

\ 
By Mrs. Alia B. Fo-ster, ch.iirman of the joint committee. 

Members of the joint committee of the Washington Branch of the 
Association of Collegiate Alumn;e and the Civic Center: Mrs. Alia B. 
Foster (chairman), Mrs. Tlieo. L. Cole (vice chairman). Dr. Emilie Y. 
O'Brien, Mrs. Charles C. Darwin, Mrs. Robert B. Warder, Mrs. George 
E. Patrick, Mrs. Sara Smith, Miss Ellen Hedrick, Miss Francis Chick- 
eriug, and Miss Ellen A. Vinton. 

About a year ago a joint committee, composed of members of the 
public school committee of the Civic Center and the Collegiate Alumnse, 
turned their attention toward the sanitary condition of the public 
schools. As mothers, liousekeepers, or educators, they had long felt dis- 
satisfied with many existing conditions, particularly in the older build- 
ings. They felt sure that both school and District officials were doing 
the best they could, but that they were sadly hampered by lack of funds. 

The committee thought that an exhaustive examination of the condi- 
tion of the school buildings and grounds and a careful tabulation of 
the facts gleaned would call the attention of Congress and the public 
to the most pressing needs of the schools, and possibly help the authori- 
ties in securing the appropriations so much needed for repairs and new 
buildings. 

In this helpful and friendly spirit the committee set about securing 
the necessary permission, and everywhere were met most kindly and 
courteously. All District and school officials whom it was found 
necessary to consult aided the cominittee in every way possible, and 
we feel very grateful for the kindliness and courtesy shown. 

The questions were modeled after those used three years ago by the 
Boston Collegiate Alumna', and consist of two sets, the one for the 
building as a whole, comprising 150 questions as to site and surround- 
ings, condition of building, basement, sauitaries, heating, ventilation, 



8 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF ( OLUMBIA. 

eleaniug, and 10 questions on health. The other set relates to each 
room in each building, treating of the cubic air space, light, temper- 
ature, ventilation, position of tlues and blackboards, condition of room 
as to cleanliness, presence or absence of odors, position of windows, 
etc. These last questions were kindly sent out by the superintendents 
and answered by the teachers, and were tabulated by Mr. Weber, of the 
bureau of labor. 

The committee has visited everyone of the S3 buildings named in the 
report, has inspected carefully every part of them, jotting down the 
answers to the questions as they received them, by observation 
generally and otherwise through the principal or Janitor. 

The work has taken somewhat over a year, was most carefully done, 
and the statements made in the report are without doubt exhaustive 
and accurate. 

BUILDING SITES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Fifty-five of the buildings are reported as being built on ground 
higher than the surrounding land, 12 on a slope, 23 on a level, and 13 
on lower ground. Forty-eight report the soil as dry and porous, 33 
that the soil retains moisture; 55 report the drainage good; 27 as poor. 

SURROUNDINGS. 

Fifty-one have good surroundings; 31 report objectionable surround 
ings, such as filthy yards adjoining or drainage from adjoining yards. 

These conditions should be bettered and the objections removed as 
soon as possible. Others report odors from gas house; street or steam 
railways too near; a noisy steam saw near the Phillips makes much 
disturbance; red-clay streets in front of the Maury and the Payne keep 
the buildings dirty. Five report standing water near by ; 5 report stables 
near — there are 12 stables within one block of the Thomson ; 4 report 
adjoining vacant lots used as dumps, one near the Threlkeld having 
garbage deposited on it. The Bell is on a street paved with cobblestones, 
and the noise of passing wagons often interferes with the hearing of 
recitations. The Potomac is particularly unfortunate in being near 
several stables, the railroad, and fish wharves. 

Four of the buildings, the Potomac, Addison, Phillips, and (larnet, 
are only 10 feet from 2-story buildings; the Force is 10 feet from a 
1^-story building ; the Thomson Joins a 3-story building on one side, and 
is 12 feet from a 2-story building on another side; the Patterson adjoins 
a 3-story school building; the Mott annex materially darkens the 
carijenter shop and the third-grade school above it. 

Twenty-three of the buildings are near unpaved streets, which are 
never watered and infrequently cleaned. It would be well if the proper 
authorities would see that streets adjacent to school buildings are paved 
as soon as practicable. 

PLAYGROUNDS. 

Eight buildings are reported as having no playgrounds, and for 14 
they are too small, a most unfortunate condition of affairs in both 
instances. For 28 schools the i)laygrounds are of medium size, and in 
only 28 were they reported as ample. It is to be hoped that in future 
the purchase of schoolhouse sites may include sufficient ground to 
admit of large and well-planned playgrounds, which are so essential. 

Forty-seven of the playgrounds are reported as sunny and dry, 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 9 

and 17 as simuy, not dry. Yonr committee think it would be wise if 
in future all playgrounds could be properly drained and paved with, 
concrete. 

PENNY SHOPS. 

Penny shops were found near 48 buildings; 35 were reported as hav- 
ing none near by. The Central and Eastern High, the Blake, Threlkeld, 
Towers, Banneker, Briggs, Douglass, Jones, and Slater have from 4 to 
6 penny shops in tbe same square. The articles sold are enumerated as 
"doughnuts, confectionery, bakery goods, cakes, pie, buns, oranges, 
l)op corn, fruit, biscuit, bread, pickles, candy, gum." 

Pickles are sold in 25 shops, candy in 42, gum in 12. 

At time of inspection cigarettes were found in penny shops near the 
John F. Cook, Loveioy, McCormick, Slater, Threlkeld, Towers, Tyler, 
Wallach, Crancli, and Giddings, and cigarettes were given away in one 
shop near the Ciales to those who bought cakes. There was a barroom 
reported near the Briggs, into which school children sometimes went. 
One examiner designated articles sokl as "wholesome and unwhole- 
some," another as "regulation stuff." It is to be hoped that the Com- 
missioners may see tit to restrict these objectionable j)euny shops, 128 
of them in all. 

AGE AND CONDITION OF BUILDINGS. 

The Threlkeld has been built 50 years; the Wallach, 34 years; the 
Stevens and John F. Cook, 30 years; the McCormick and Franklin, 29 
years; the Potomac, 28 years; the Seaton, Sumner, Lincoln, and a part 
of the Mott, 27 years; the Cranch and Randall, 26 years. Fourteen 
schools were built in 1889, the Smead dry closet being placed in all but 
one of them. Since then 24 schools have been built, 5 of them this year. 
While 4() show an attendance less than built for, 33 of the buildings are 
reported as housing more j)upils than they were intended to accommo- 
date. The Pierce, built in 1894, has been using for two years as an 
annex a small room in a church, accommodating 2 schools daily, heated 
by stoves, with no ventilation except by windows, with small closet in 
yard in poor condition. The yard is reported as smelling foul, and a 
receptacle for ash dumj)s. 

The three hall rooms in the Peabody, used last year as schoolrooms, 
are occupied again this year for sewing school and kindergarten. These 
rooms are very deficient in air space, giving only 188 cubic feet for each 
pupil, instead of the 250 cubic feet considered necessary. Two of them 
are lighted by two windows at one side only, the other by three win- 
dows at one side. Two of them are reported as having no sunlight in 
the rooms, yet these rooms are being used in spite of the addition of the 
new 8-roomed annex near by. 

The authorities have been trying for some time to secure sufiicient 
appropriation so that the Potomac, High Street, Thomson, Threlkeld, 
Lovejoy, and McCormick might be either abandoned or rebuilt, but 
without avail so far, and these buildings are still in use in all their 
unsightly and unsanitary condition. 

The age of the High Street school is unknown. It is heated by 
stoves, ventilated by windows; its basement lioors are of broken and 
cracked asphalt and ijartly covered with old desks, barrels, stoves, etc. 
Outside clothes are hung on hooks in the schoolrooms. The inside 
staircase and halls are of wood, as is the rest of the building, and on 



10 • PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

the south side the only staircase is an outside wooden one. Tbe pupils 
for that side must go over a wooden bridge to reach the tirst-tloor land- 
ing. Those on the second Hoor of that side go still farther and uj) the 
staircase. In case of tire this building would be a veritable death trap. 

The closets are in the rear of the yard, of the old trough pattern. 
Tlie boys' closet is reported as foul suielliug and the girls' closet as 
having no water in it. The girls' closet is immediately adjacent to a 
public sidewalk on three of its sides. 

The Potomac is equally as bad, except for the danger from fire, 
heated by stoves, ventilated by windows, and badly out of repair. 
"When i)upils on the upper floor are going through the health exercise 
the whole building vibrates in a shocking manner." The building has 
no modern improvements and has twice been condemned. 

The examiner for the Thomson reports: 

This is an old piivate house, entirely unsuitable lor school purposes. Fhiors will 
not hold nails, and are so old they could never look clean. 

The Threlkeld and Lovejoy are heated by stoves, ventilated by win- 
dows only, and have old, rusty, foul trough closets and urinal. 

The McCormick was built twenty-nine years ago, has antiquated 
Smead dry clo.sets, practically no ventilation. The double doors swing- 
inward. One corner of the basement is always damp. There are no 
playgrounds, and the boys play in their closet room in bad weather. 
The boys' urinal is adjacent to the sink from which drinking water is 
drawn. 

MATERIAL OF BUILDINGS. 

The material of all buildings is of brick, except for the High Street 
and i^art of the Mott, which are of wood. 

NUMBER OF STORIES HIGH. 

Forty-seven of the buildings are --story, 45 having basements; 35 
are 3-story, 32 having basements. Fifty buildings are reported as 
having stone and iron stairways; 33 have not. 

FIRE DRILLS. 

Thirty-two buildings have tire drill; 51 do not; of the colored 
schools have tire drill on(;e a week; 23 buildings having wooden stairs 
and halls have no fire drill. Eleven of the 3-story buildings have no 
fire escape. They are the Central High, Eastern High, Colored High, 
Berret, Cranch, Lovejoy, Seaton, Stevens, Wallach, Eandall, and John 
F. Cook. 

The Eastern High and John F. Cook have wooden stairs, but have 
fire drill. The Cranch and Kandall have wooden stairs and have no 
tire drill. Some of the teachers say that the daily orderly marching 
out (which is done beautifully, by the way,) is an elfectual tire drill, 
it may be true, as one of the officials remarked, that the stone stairs 
are better fire escapes than the swinging ladders outside, upon which 
the pupils are never allowed to step; but it would seem wiser to equip 
each 3story building with an adequate tire escape, and then have an 
occasional fire drill in every building, allowing the pupils in the 3-story 
buildings to use the fire escai)es, so that they may become familiar 
with them. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 11 



ARRANGEMENT OF DOOES. 

The ordiuary wooden storm door, such avS is found at the Lenox, 
Blake, Brent, Morse, Seaton, and Twining, seems very objectionable. 
The doors are in the ends, at right angles to the doors of the building 
proper. One of them is generally kept locked, and there would be 
great danger from overcrowding in time of jjanic or fire. The broad 
stone porticoes, deej) enough to be a shelter and open enough to be safe, 
found on the Buchanan and the Bruce are nuich to be preferred, and 
are much more ornamenta]. 

CLOAKROOMS. 

Most of the schoolrooms have cloakrooms adjacent, ventilated and 
Avarmed in the same way as the rooms. Sixty-three buildings are 
reported as having ample cloakrooms; 17 buildings have crowded 
cloakrooms. Those in the Cranch, Lovejoy, and Lincoln are especially 
undesirable, being dark, crowded, and with no means of ventilation. 

In the Jackson, the Mott, and the Grant the hooks are reported as 
too close together, a defect which might be easily remedied by the 
janitor. 

1^0 adequate provision is made for drying clothes in rainy weather. 
No attempt is made to keep wraps from coming in too close contact. 
An experiment is being put in at the Toner, one of the new buildings. 
The chairman of the committee visited this building, and it is her 
opinion that the cloakrooms or closets are so narrow and the hooks so 
close together that in order to make the register at the top of the closet 
and the foul-air flue at the bottom effective there would be too much 
of a draft in the schoolroom, making the system practically useless. 

The individual boxed lockers at the new Western High seem much 
to be preferred. They cost more, of course, but ought not the grade 
schools to be treated as well in the matter of sanitation and ventilation 
as the high schools 1 

BASEMENTS. 

All but 4 of the 83 buildings are built with basements, and in 75 of 
these basements play rooms are provided for use in cold or stormy 
weather. The necessity for airy, well-lighted, well-ventilated base- 
ments, free from dampness, is apparent. The height of the basement 
walls, with height above ground, varies with the age and location 
of the building. The basements of the Brent, Lincoln, Abbot, and 
McCormick are each 8 feet, with 4 feet above. The basements of the 
Amidon, Force, Banneker, Grant, Webster, Thomson, and Peabody are 
each feet, with from 2 to 7 feet above. 

Thirty six buildings have basements 10 feet high, with from 4 to 6 
feet above; 7 are 11 feet; 17 are 12 feet. The Blake, Douglass, Miner, 
Slater, and Towers have basements 14 feet high. The Adams and 
Johnson have 15-foot basements. The two schools built last year — the 
Bowen and Hayes — have each 12-foot basements, with G feet above. 
Almost without exception these basements have windows on two sides 
that are accessible and can be opened daily. Many of them are not 
opened, however. The windows vary in size from 2 by 2i feet in the 
Webster, giving only 5 square feet to each window, to 4 by 8 feet in the 
Franklin, giving 32 sciuare feet to each window. The most of the win- 
dows are 3 by 4 feet or 4 by 4 feet, ample for the proper ventilation of 
basement and halls if used properly, i. e., opened at least once each day. 



12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



CONDITION OF WALLS AND FLOORS. 

Fifty basements Lave walls always dry; 1*9 have walls damp. In 
several of the bnildings, notably tbe JJrookland and Hayes, the Hoors 
are always damj) because of an underlying- bed of clay. The remedy 
for this would be adequate outside drainage and cement tloors. The 
Johnson, which was built on a clay bank, was lurnished with an out- 
side layer of waterproof cement on the basement walls, but unfortu- 
nately the brick wall was built just a little lower than the cement was 
spread, and the result is floors always damp. 

The replacement of wooden tloors, rotted out by continued dami>ness, 
by other wooden lioors, without the concrete underneath, seems to be a 
waste of time and money; yet this has been done in several instances. 
In a hutried examination of the five new buildings (which are not 
included in our report, our insjtectiou having closed last ^lay) the com- 
mittee was i^leased to note the absence of brick lioors in the basements, 
the clean- looking and much more sanitary concrete taking its place, 

PLAY KOOMS. 

In 5S of the buildings the jday rooms are reported as dry and suunj', 
properly floored and ventilated; 4 are reported as dark; 11 as sunny, 
but not dry. The play rooms in the Banneker are neither dry nor 
sunny, and are poorly ventilated. In 50 buildings the closets are also 
in the basenumt, and are often used as play rooms in cold weather, 
particularly when the Smead dry closet is the type used, as the stack 
fires partially heat the closet rooms and the play rooms proper are 
unheated. 

SANITARIES, 

Four of the 8;> buildings examined have the modern water-closets; 
7 have the Mott autonuitic fiushing tank; 31 have the long trough, 
flushed by the Janitor and trapped at one end; o7 have the Smead dry 
closets, and 4 the iSmead water-closet. The trough closets are very 
objectionable, being generally found rusty, ill smelling, and with a large 
amount of fouling surface impossible to be kept clean. 

We are glad to report that $2."'),000 of the $42,()()() asked for last year 
for plumbing repairs, and which this committee helped to secure bj' 
letters and i)ersonal appeals to the proper authorities, was granted, 
and is being used partially in substituting modern water-closets for 
the trough system in the Cranch, Force, Franklin, Jefferson, John F, 
Cook, Sumner, Lincoln, and Banneker, It is to be regretted that the 
Morse, Twining, and several others were not included in this list. 

SMEAD DRY CLOSET, 

The Smead dry closets, in use in 37 of the buildings, are located in 
two of the basement rooms of the building. The seats are on a raised 
platform, protected by a low partition. These closets have side parti- 
tions, with no doors, and long undivided urinal troughs, giving very 
little chance for privacy or the cultivation of modesty. The closet 
vaults are adjacent to and communicate with the foul-air chamber, 
where the foul heated air from the schoolrooms is supposed to be col- 
lected by devious and twisted channels, passed over the vault to aid 
in drying up the excreta, and out through the foul-air opening, which 
is heated by the stack fire. The excreta is removed but once a year. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 13 

during vacation. The danger from back drafts is not only possible, 
bnt probable, and, as the District chemist has so well said in his report 
on the heating and ventilation of schools, page 68 of Volume III, year 
of 1897 : 

The most serious defect seems to liave been the attempt to comhine at all this 
system with that of heating and ventilating, systems which are diametrically opposed 
to each other and have no connection between them. For why should we constantly 
be running the danger of a backward draft; and why should the teachers and pupils 
be constantly blockaded behind closed doors and windows when there is no neces- 
sity; and why should the atmosphere be poisoned and the soil polluted merely for 
the sake of retaining excreta upou the premises? With this part of the system 
removed back drafts lose part of their terror. 

The District chemist examined 23 of the school buildings, 10 of these 
containing the Smead dry closets, and in G of these 10 negative cur- 
rents were found passing from room to room. We would urge the 
speedy replacement of these dry closets, which are unsanitary and 
unsafe, with luodern water-closets. 

Only seven of the closets have slat doors, three have no partitions 
whatever, and several of them have slight side partitions. We were 
glad to note that all closets in the new buildings erected this year are 
furnished with slat doors and 18 inch partitioned urinals, and are of an 
approved type of water-closet. 

URINALS. 

The Business High and Brookland schools have broad slate urinals, 
well washed, not partitioned. The Seaton has an enameled iron, and the 
Webster a porcelain, well washed. The Payne, Douglass, and Green- 
leaf have broad slate urinals, well washed, with 10-inch partitions, which 
would seem to be too narrow for privacy. 

The plumbing inspector examined all of the closets and plumbing in 
the public schools during the fall of 189G and the spring of 1897. He 
reported 2, schools, the Potomac and Sumner, as defective; 32 poor, 11 
of them requiring minor repairs; 30 in fair condition; 18 as good, and 
1, the Eastern High, as in excellent condition. His .opinion was based 
partially on the kind of sewers found, there being thirty-three terra- 
cotta sewers. Twelve of these are shortly to be replaced by the regula- 
tion iron sewer. New slate urinals with 2 1 -inch partitions and an 
automatic flush are to be put in 13 of the buildings. This leaves 02 
buildings still with the old objectionable type of urinals, undivided, 
rusty, uncleanly. 

Twenty-seven of the buildings have no teacher's closets. The Twin- 
ing and Morse are particularly wanting in conveniences, having not even 
a small room or a lounge for the use of a sick teacher or pupil. There 
is too great a contrast between the old and the new buildings in the 
matter of teachers' accommodations and lack of privacy in the pupils' 
closets. This could be remedied with a comparatively small outlay, and 
ought to be done as speedily as possible. 

Most of the sinks and water-closets are properly trapped and vented, 
the vent pipe extending above the the roof; but the plumbing in the 
Cranch, Garnet, Miner, and Potomac is nntrapped; the vent pipes in 
the Brent, Gales, Morse, and Webster are probably inoperative, and 
the vent pipe of the Weightman stops in the attic. 

The majority of the schools have insufficient closet facilities. In the 
Potomac school there are 9 pupils for each closet seat; in the Phelps 
and High street, 10; in the Berret, 11. Twenty-three schools have 
from 12 to 20 pupils to a closet; 36 schools have from 20 to 30; 14 



14 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THF. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

scliools have from 30 to 40, while the Seaton has 40, the Brent 43, and 
the Tyler 46 pupils to each closet seat. When pui)ils receive permis- 
sion to go to the closet during- school hours they are generally kept 
after school. This seems to be an unwise and unjust rule, especially 
in schools having inadequate closet room. 

Toilet paper is furnished in two of the high schools. The commit- 
tee are of the opinion that the furnishing of toilet paper to all schools 
would assist in the formation of habits of cleanliness and would possi- 
bly' save considerable outlay now expended in clearing the pipes from 
unsuitable material thrown into them. 

HEATING. 

Fifty-five of the buildings are heated by Smead furnaces, 23 by steam, 
and 5 by stoves. The air for the furnaces is generally drawn from out 
of the door, near the ground, into clean, whitewaslied air chambers sit- 
uated back of the furnaces. 

In buildings having Smead dry closets in the basements, ventilated 
by stacks, the foul air from the stacks sometimes falls to the ground in 
muggj' weather and is drawn into the cold-air chambers in i)lace of the 
pure air. Two Janitors rejxtrted that on damp days they could smell 
the foul odors from the stack when standing in front of the windows to 
the air chambers. 

The rooms are generally furnished with thermometers, which the 
teachers consult frequently. In a very few of the rooms thermometers 
were found suspen<led Just above the i)upils' heads, about the center of 
the room. This seems to the committee a nuich more favorable i^osition 
for securing true temi)erature than when the thermometers are against 
the walls. 

In 133 of the 747 rooms reported tlie average temperature was higher 
than desired by the teachers. In 4 cases in the Seaton school the 
average temperature sometimes fell below GO- or even 50- in winter, 
and one tea(;her at that school reported that she and the children have 
frequently contracted colds in the schoolroom. This building is 
heated by steam, and the plant has been in twenty-seven years. It 
might be well to replace this system with a more modern type. 

VENTILATION. 

Seven of the buildings examined, theCentral High, Dowen, Buchanan, 
Douglass, Greenleaf, Hayes, and Payne, are ventilated by means of 
steel fans. The one in the Central High is inadeciuate, the building 
being only moderately well ventilated. The others seem to work verj'^ 
well. 

The live new buildings are ventilated by fans, and are unusually 
fresh and sweet. Of the other buildings 43 have Smead ventilating 
shafts. The theory of this systeni requires that windows and doors 
should always be closed, but in nearly all of the rooms teachers sup- 
plement the regular system of ventilation by opening windows at 
intervals. The only exceptions in the 747 rooms re])orting are 30 rooms 
in schools where Smead furnaces are used. In 01 rooms the teachers 
reported tliat they keep the windows slightly open all the time; in 38 
of these cases Smead furnaces and in 23 steam (joils were used for 
heating. 

In 20 cases windows were kept "generally slightly open." In all 
other rooms windows are generally well opened during recess, and in 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 15 

many cases during physical exercise. The intervals vary from a few 
minutes to several hours per day. 

Fifteen buildings are ventilated by a heated-air shaft, li report a cold- 
air shaft, and 15 natural circulation. The foul-air shaft is always upright 
and leads to the outer air. Twenty-seven buildings are reported as 
being not well ventilated, the third-floor rooms of the Cranch being 
particularly deficient. The flues were stopped up with paper to keep 
out back drafts of vitiated air from the rooms below. 

Ventilation Ijy fans. — The system of ventilation by means of fans 
seems to be the only satisfactory one for a large building, and it is to 
be hoped that this method will not only be followed in the erection of 
all subsequent school buildings but will be speedily introduced into 
the older buildings. 

CLEANING. 

The general rules for cleaning are to sweep and dust the entire build- 
ing each day, to wash the halls and stairs and one play room or school 
and cloak room each week. Windows must be washed three times a 
year. 

The buildings were found to be generally well cleaned, only a few 
being carelessly kept; but in view of the fact that 63 janitors hire help, 
paying for it out of their small allowance, the pay being only $41 j)er 
month for janitors of 8-room buildings, and somewhat more for the 
others, it seems to the committee that more money spent in janitor 
service would secure better results. 

All but five janitors use a dry (jloth or feather duster, or both, in 
removing dust. A damp or oiled cloth would be much more satisfac- 
tory. 

In twelve cases teachers hired jiersons to have extra cleaning done. 
This work consisted of washing desks and boards and scrubbing floors. 
In some other cases this extra work is done by pupils and teachers. 

Disinfectants. — Seventy-three janitors report tlie use of disinfectants; 
some only when ordered by the health office, others regularly in clos- 
ets and cleaning water. A variety of disinfectants were found, includ- 
ing lye and soapine, chloride of lime, mercuric chloride, sulpho naph- 
thol, "Gilniau's," and " liobacher's." The committee recommend that 
the proper authorities select the best and supply it regularly to all 
schools. 

House cleaning. — There is one thorough house cleaning during the 
summer vacation. The basements, closets, and fences are white- 
washed, and current repairs made so far as appropriations will permit. 

CUBIC AIR SPACE. 

Forty of the 83 buildings fall below the standard of U50 cubic feet of 
air space for each i)upil; 8 buildings are below standard in all but one 
room; 10 are mostly below the standard; 10 are mostly above, and but 
7 buildings are entirely above. There were but two new buildings 
erected last year, the Hayes and the Anthony Bowen. The Hayes is 
entirely below the standard, and the Bowen has all but one room below. 

The importance of the amount of air space can not be overestimated, 
and it is to be hoped that the architects who plan our school buildings 
will be more careful in the future. 

SCHOOL SEATS AND DESKS. 

In 295 rooms the seats were reported to be all of the same size; in 
438 rooms, of different sizes, or adjustable. 



16 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DLSTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



LIGHTING OF SCHOOLROOMS. 

The number of windows in each room varies from 2 each, in a few cases 
in the Eastern and Central High schools, to 11 each, in some rooms in 
the Jackson and I'olk schools. \>y far the greater number of rooms have 
from 5 to 7 windows each. Following is a summary of the positions of 
the windows as reported by the teachers : Side, front, and rear, 4 rooms; 
side and rear. 057 rooms; side and front, 9 rooms ; rear and front, 1 room ; 
side, 00 rooms. 

Light was reported insufficient on bright days in 3 cases, in Mott, 
Gavnet, and Lincoln schools, and in 1 case, in Crancli school, as barely 
suflticient. The rooms in the Lincoln school are .su})plied with enough 
windows, but the walls are covered with a dark-blue kalsomine, which 
probablj' accounts for the insufticient light. 

In 27 cases the light was reported insufticient on cloudy days. In 
3 cases " scarcely sufljcient,"' and in 1 case " very poor." In all other 
cases teachers either reported " sufficient light on bright and cloudy 
days'' or failed to answer the question. In only S cases was gas or 
electricity used on account of insutticient light. One teacher in Garnet 
school reported that artificial light was needed all day, and one in 
Central High "on every dark day during entire session.'' 

EYE TROUBLES. 

Trouble with children's eyes was reported in 28 cases, but in some of 
these teachers state that they do not know the cause. In 1 case it was 
removed when curtains were api)lied, and in 1 case it was due to excessive 
light. In 1 case it was attributed to cross light, and in others when 
children faced blackboards between or near windows. In only 57 out 
of 747 rooms teachers report no blackboards between windows or on 
the same wall with them. 

Of the other schoolrooms, 12() cases were reported where children 
were re(juired to look at such blackboards, r)S where they were occasion- 
ally required to do so, 148 where such boards were rarely used, 7 where 
they were used when blinds were properly adjusted, and 15 cases where 
children were not required to look at them long. 

It seems to the committee that light could be better regulated if all 
windows were supplied with double curtains instead of the inside blinds 
now used. The curtains would be mn<'h cheaper, and many teachers 
have ex])ressed the desire that they might be snbstituted for the blinds. 
It \^ould seem that blackboards between windows should be used very 
rarely, and then only when the adjacent windows are well shaded. 

Teachers in some schools do not permit short-sighted children to 
change i)osition in order to correctly copy work to be taken home. The 
child probably copies the problems inaccurately, brings wrong answers, 
and is blamed for it, when the teacher is the only one at fault. 

In 32 out of 747 cases teachers re])orted that there was no sunlight 
in the rooms during the day. In the other cases the responses to the 
question, " What part and how long?" varied greatly, from "ahalf horn- 
in the morning" to "nearly all day." 

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 

Forty of the ^li buildings reported 1 or more cases of contagious 
diseases last year, diphtheria or scarlet fever, or both, being in 32 build- 
ings and measles in 10 of them. Of these 40 buildings 28 are heated 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 17 

arid ventilated by the Sraead system, 9 by steam, and 3 by stoves. 
Twenty of these buildings have the Smead dry o-loset in the basement, 
17 have the old trough, 2 are the Smead water-closets, and only 1 is an 
automatic flushing tank system. This seems to be an additional argu- 
ment for getting rid of the Smead dry closets. 

DEATHS IN SCHOOLS. 

Statistics of deaths are not complete, because after a pupil has been 
absent three days he forfeits his seat and is no louger a member of the 
school. Forty-six of the schools either reported no deaths or the 
teachers did not know. Of the other 36, 17 reported 1 death, 9 reported 
2 deaths, 7 reported 3 deaths, the Douglass reported 0, the Mott 7, and 
the Towers 7 or 8. 

DRINKING WATER. 

The water is generally drawn from sinks in the basement, being city 
water. Pour schools report using wells; 10 are furnished with filters; 5 
of the schools report their pui)ils as furnishing their own drinkiug cups. 
In 9 schools there are 5 to 25 pupils to each cup; in 17 schools 25 to 
50 pupils to each cup; in 24 schools 50 to 100 pupils to each cup; in 13 
schools 100 to 200 pupils to a cup; in the Colored High School there is 
1 cup for each 225 pupils; in the Garnet 250 pupils to a cup, and in 
the Mott 273 i^upils to a cup. 

This great difference in the supply of drinking cups would seem to 
be partly the result of carelessness on the part of teachers or janitors. 
One janitor said he was supplied with new drinking cups whenever he 
made requisition for them. Other janitors could probably secure them 
in the same way. The problem of supplying drinkiug water to a 
school in the most expeditious and cleanly way has been a troublesome 
one and much puzzled over by various interested people; but it seems 
to have been at least partially solved in the new Peabody annex, 
built this year, where a small drinking fountain has been placed in each 
cloak room, and the committee could not help wondering why this was 
not done in all of the new buildings. 

PROMOTION BASED ON HEALTH. 

Only eight principals of buildings report that promotion is based 
somewhat on the iDupils' physical condition. 

MALARIA IN SCHOOLS. 

The Eastern High, Bnchanan, Cranch, McOormick, and Potomac 
report a prevalence of malaria. The examiner states that there was 
hardly a pupil from the southeast attending the Eastern High that 
had not been excused during the year on account of malaria. The 
principal of the McCormick school reports 100 cases of malaria in that 
school last year. 

BOOKS. 

All pupils of high schools buy their own books, but all books are 
furnished in the grade schools. But few parents care to buy books for 
their children. Eight of the 79 grade schools report that a very few of 
their pupils furnish their own books. 

A pupil is given a set of books at the beginning of the year, which 
S. Doc. 65 2 



18 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

are his for tbat year. The next year, if lie be so fortunate as to pass 
on to the next grade, some other pupil falls heir to his last year's books, 
he in turn receiving some other i)upil's cast-ott' set. 

Some sets of books, such as music readers, nature and health primers, 
are used indiscriminately by several schools in the building. This is 
an unsatisfactoiy and uncleanly method of using books and often pro- 
ductive of contagion. All pupils who are able to do so should be 
required to fnrnish their own books, the District providing books for 
those who are not able to buy for themselves. 

If this most desirable arrangement can not be brought about, the 
books should at least be thoroughly disinfected from year to year. 
This might be accomplished by inclosing books in a case into which 
fumes of formalin are forced so rapidly as to completely separate and 
disinfect each leaf of each book. 

VISITING PHYSICIANS. 

The committee would strongly urge the appointment of visiting phy- 
sicians, who would inspect the pupils of each building every day. By 
this means ailing children would be more i)romptly cared for and the 
danger from spreading contagious diseases would be reduced to a 
minimum. 



THE INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL LIFE UPON THE HEALTH OF 

CHILDREN.- 

By WilliaiJi W. Johustoii, M. D. 

In 1890-07 there were 10, 258,000 children in the schools of the United 
States. Of these 14,724,(J00 were in public and 1,513,000 in private 
schools. This was an increase of 257,806 over the previous year, the 
added number being wholly in the public schools, attendance in the 
private schools being actually less. In support of this vast scheme of 
education there was an annual i)er capita expenditure of $2.50 and the 
estimated value of school ])roperty was .$400,000,000. 

In the District of Columbia there were in attendance on the public 
schools in 1870-71, 15,157 children, and in 189G-07, 42,995. 

HEALTH AND EDUCATION. 

It might be assumed that school life, with its restraints and other 
conditions, w^ould have some intiuence upon the normal bodily develop- 
ment of the child. What this intiuence is has been detinitely studied 
in live investigations in Europe. These Ave, arranged according to date, 
were: (1) Hertel's investigations in Denmark, 1881; (2) Danish com- 
mission (Hertel), 1882; (3) Swedish commission (Axel -Key), 1883; (4) 
British [)arliamentary commission (Crichton-Browne), report i)ublished 
in 1884; (5) Warner's investigation in England, reported in 1892. 

The facts collected in these live investigations give information as to 

*I am indebted to Ur. (ieorge \V. Johnston for the preparation of the aceonipany- 
iiig charts and fur the collection of the fi<;ures from the original .sources upon which 
they are based. The lirat part of this i)aper, dealing with observations as to the 
health of children in the schools of this country and Europe, was in great ])art pre- 
pared by him; and I wish to exjiress my obligations to him for the great care and 
intelligence shown in translation and tabulation and in the conclusions drawn from 
the statistics of ditferent countries. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 19 

the health of 104,629 school children (62,332 boys and 42,297 girls) of 
different ages, of all social conditions, rich and poor, from city and 
country. 

Additional important inquiries were published by Combe in Lausanne 
in 1892, 3,650 children in all being studied; by Nesteroff in Moscow in 
1890, 216 children; by Zahor in Prague, 1888, 1889, 1890, 4,892 children; 
and by Hakonsen-Hansen in the preliminary report of the Norwegian 
commission under Faye and Held in 1894. 

METHODS OF INQUIRY. 

The methods pursued in these different investigations varied in 
different countries. In England scholars were subjected to inspection 
while at work and play, and both they and their teacbers were ques- 
tioned. This plan is open to criticism, and the unfavorable comments 
of the chief inspector of schools, who accompanied Crichton-Browne, 
seem to be not without justice. 

In Denmark and Sweden the plans were essentially the same and 
were very detailed and complete. Printed blanks containing questions 
as to each child's health, the amount of study at home, the character 
and duration of sleep, etc., were sent to the parents to be answered. 
The information thus obtained was submitted first to the family physi- 
cian and then to the child's teacher for criticisms, corrections, and 
additions, and afterwards the child's eyesight was tested and the weight 
was ascertained. These studies were made in November and December 
in Denmark and in February and March in Sweden. The periods 
chosen were neither at the beginning of the school year, when the 
pupils were refreshed by their summer holidays (of ten weeks' duration 
in Denmark and sixteen weeks in Sweden), nor at the end of the session, 
after the fatigue of the year's work. 

In a doubtful case the child was called well, and no incidental acute 
illness was included. 

INVESTIGATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Interest in the health of the school children of the United States 
was awakened when the subject began to be accurately and scientific- 
ally investigated in Europe. For a short time considerable enthusi- 
asm was shown in different localities, particularly in Michigan, Wis- 
consin, Maryland, and Massachusetts, but it soon died out with the 
exception of a few spasmodic revivals. 

Numerous articles bearing on the question have appeared from time 
to time in medical journals, reports of school boards, of boards of 
health, in text-books of medicine and hygiene, pedagogical journals, 
and in the reports of the United States Commissioner of Education. 
These articles, with few exceptions, have been of a general character, 
and do not include observations on any extended scale. 

The school children of this country, in some localities, have been 
weighed and measured, and several investigations into eye conditions 
and a very few inquiries of a more general character have been under- 
taken; but, as far as I know, no thorough examination of the state of 
health of pupils in American i^ublic schools has been made. In a few 
instances circular letters have been sent out by individuals to physicians, 
superintendents of schools, members of school boards, and the clergy, 
and from the replies received an effort has been made to reach some exact 
conclusions. The answers were, however, simply expressions of indi- 



20 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DLSTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

vidual opiuion, aud the method hicked comprehensiveness and thor- 
oughness. The number of schohirs studied was small, and the answers 
to the questions were vague and lacking in scientitic precision. The 
accumulated data and conclusions were therefore of no great value. 

FACTS ASCERTAINED BY INQUIRIES IN EUROIE AND THE UNITED 

STATES. 

The European investigiitions showed very clearly that there was a 
surprising amount of ill health among children, that the percentage of 
morbidity varied only slightly in ditferent countries, and that girls 
sutfered more than boySi . 

Thus in boys' schools in England there was found a morbidity of '20.7 
per cent (Warner); in Denmark, 29 ])er cent (Danish Commission); in 
Copenhagen, 31.1 per cent (Hertel), and in Sweden, o7.2 percent (Swed- 
ish Commission). 

In girls' schools there was discovered a morbidity in England of 15.6 
per cent (Warner); in Copenhagen, 39 per cent (Hertel); in Denmark, 
41 per cent (Danish Commission); in Lausanne, 42.9 per cent (Combe), 
and in Stockholm, (il.T per cent (Swedish Commission). 

In arriving at these figures accidental or acute illness and short 
sight were excluded. As a rule morbidity was greatest among the 
children of the bettei' social class. 

The i)upils in the Moscow schools were found to suffer from general 
disturbances of the nervous system, cliietiy neurasthenic in character. 
There was headache (especially at the end of the day's lessons), with 
sleeplessness, gastralgia, peripheral neuralgias, mostly intercostal, neu- 
rosis of the heart (palpitation), rapidly induced phj^sical and mental 
weariness, accoun)anied by irritability and excitement, and in older 
pupils neuroses of the sexual organs. 

Warner has investigated the same subject in England. In about 11 
per cent of the children examined he noted certain abnormal "nerve 
signs." These consisted in instability in posture, in balance of hand, 
head and back, loss of tone in the orbicular muscle of the eye, finger 
twitching, stammering, numerous movements occurring without appar- 
ent stimulation, and muscular eccentricity closely bordering on chorea. 

Among the public-school children of New York City, Hamilton, in 
answer to inquiries, ascertained that 20 per cent of the pupils in the 
primary schools (average age, 7 years) and 2 per cent of those in the 
grammar schools (average age, 12 yeais) twitched their hands, faces, or 
one side of the body. His observations show that, contrary to the 
conclusions of others, there is a lower percentage of nerve disorders in 
the higher grades. 

l>incoln, Folsom, and others describe the familiar nerve-sick school 
child, but add nothing to our knowledge of the prevalence of nerve dis- 
ease among the pnpils in our schools. 

Examinations into the morbidity of the school children of the United 
States have been so few and so fruitless that the superintendent of 
physical training in Boston public schools was able to say without fear 
of contradi(;tion as late as 1894 that we have no knowledge whether 
school life is beneficial or prejudicial to health, since no one has taken 
the pains or been paid to find out. He continues: 

It is scarcely too niucL to say that it would be easiiT under the present couditions 
to estimate tlie losses eutailed by liog cb<>ler;i or cattle ]iliigue throughout the Union 
than to determine the number of children who sucdimb annually to school diseases 
in the United States. (Ilartwell.) 

Whenever investigations have been made in this country the condi- 
tions found have been similar to those in Europe. 



DIAGRAM I. 

Increase of Morbidity with age. Boy's Schools. 
Denmark and Sweden (Hertel.) 



A^e 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


// 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


66 

64 

62 

60 

58 

56 

54 

52 

50 

48 

46 

44 

42 

^40 
s; 
<u 

5J 38 

i34 
i32 

30 
28 
26 
24 
22 
20 
18 
16 
14 
12 
10 




































— Pn 


'parai 


or/ S 


choo/s and 


Latin 


D/y/s 


'on in 


















(Stve 


dish 


Comn 


'•; 




















'parai 


or/ S 


chooL 


p and 


Gymi 


tasia . 


'n 






















< 


".open, 


ha^en 


(Hen 


el.) 




















-Pr 


"ipara 


for/i 


chool 


J and 


Gymr 


asia i, 


7 
















( 


Danis, 


h Con 


im.) 






















nish . 


Schoo 


Is In 






















■ Ud. 






c 


Oanis. 


b Corr 


m.) 






































































































































































A 






1 \ 








y' 


.A 


T 
1 










/ \ 




.^' 


•''^'• 


;---. 




\ 






I 






K 


I 




\ / 






\ 


^N. 


-! .\ 




/ 


f 






!f\ 


V 


.•""" 


--*,^ 




.^^" 


It 


'^ , 


1 ' 


A 


/ 








11 


•' 






i-^ 






■;|l 

• 


-^/ 


\/ 








Ir: 


^^ 


^\:^ 


nT'' 








V 


J 


1 

1 
1 


V 












'J x 
















^ 










/// 


























/ 


ni 

1 1 


























/ 


1 i 

1 i: 




























I! 

..J; 


























1 
1 


i 


























i 












































1 

1 
1 




















1 













DIAGRAM II 

Increase of Morbidity with age. Girls Schools. 
Denmark and Sweden (Hertel.) 



A^e 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


II 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


64 
62 
60 
58 
56 
54 
52 
50 
48 
46 
44 

§ 40 

1 

'=»^ 38 

;^ 36 

^ 34 
32 
30 
28 
26 
2.4 
22 
20 
'8 
16 
14 
12 














































■-—- 


--<. 




















1 
/ 












''•^ 
















/ 
























/ 




























f 




























I 
































f 


A 


















h. 


1 
\ ■ 






i/ 


1 


^-1 
















i 


••J 




t 


/, 


1 

\ 


V^ 
















I 






i 1 






















1 




r^ 


M 


/ 
/ 




'•J 

1 


. 














i 




u 


1 


/ 
/ 






V 
















r1 


-^N 


; / 




















/ 




// 


1 






















/ 


/ 


/ 


1 
























^j 


' 
.-••.. 
























//.J 


T I 
/ 1 
1 


























/ •'* 


1 

1 j 


























/ ; 




























t ', 





— 


-Hig 


'i Schc. 


ols(S 


yyec/isi 


\ Comi 


-■) 










y 








..U.'Mt 


Scho 


■ylsiCc 


penhc 


^en~ 


Herte 


'■) 












■■Hig) 












s Schi. 


ols{L 


an/'sh 


Com/7 


■) 










; 






b/n 


; 







— 


-Hi§, 


iSchc 


ols(D 


anish 


Comn 


■) 










/ 




























/ 




























• 



























PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 21 



RELATION OF THESE VARIATIONS FROM HEALTH TO SCHOOL LIFE. 

The same morbid phenomena have been met with so repeatedly in 
the different inquiries undertaken that they may be said to be con- 
stant accompaniments of school life, and Key calls chlorosis, nosebleed, 
headache, and myopia true school diseases. In certain schools in the 
South of Scotland, where the children lived and worked among the 
most favorable surroundings, the same varieties of ill health were 
observed by Crichton-Browne, though with less frequency and in a less 
pronounced degree than in less favorable localities. 

As pointed out by Burgerstein, who translated Axel Key's report into 
German, we can not tix upon a normal percentage of morbidity, because 
we can not find a number of children brought up under ideal circum- 
stances or in an ideal environment. Since nearly every child of school 
age goes to school, there is not a sufficient number of children out of 
school for control observations. It makes but little difference whether 
the health of school children is better or worse than in the case of 
those who do not go to school; it is bad enough and should be made 
better; the condition exists and it is our duty to remedy it. 

RELATION OF MORBIDITY TO AGE AND PROGRESS FROM CLASS TO 

CLASS. 

To aid in determining whether the ill health constantly found in 
school children is due to the conditions of school life, it will be well to 
study the relation of morbidity to age and the progress from class to 
class. 

All observers agree that morbidity increases with age and more par- 
ticulary with progress from class to class, and statistical corroboration 
of these facts is abundant and strong. The results of the' investiga- 
tions of the Swedisli Commission,. arranged by Key in the form of a 
curve, and the combined results of the Danish ancl Swedish commis- 
sions and of Hertel's personal inquiry, similarly arranged by the latter, 
illustrate these points most graphically. 

Diagram I shows the increase of morbidity with age in the boys' 
schools of Denmark and Sweden. The rate of increase is seen to be 
much more rapid between the ages of and 8 years than after this 
period; that is, when children are admitted to the schools at the age 
of 6 years the percentage of disease among them ranges from 14 to 20. 
From the date of admission until 8 years of age there is a very rapid 
increase of disease, so that when the age of 8 is reached 28 to 36 per 
cent of the children are suffering from diseases of one kind or another. 
From 8 to 19 years there is relatively no great increase, the amount of 
ill health ranging from 28 to 40 per cent in the schools of Denmark and 
Sweden, being lowest in the Danish schools and highest in the prepar- 
atory and Latin schools of Sweden. 

In the second diagram the increase of morbidity with age in the girls' 
schools of Denmark and Sweden is seen to be very marked. The upper 
line represents this increase in the high schools of Sweden. Starting 
with a morbidity of 28 per cent at the age of 7, at 8 it is 50 per cent. 
From this date the changes are less rapid. The maximum is reached at 
12 years, when 64 per cent of the girls have ill health. In the high 
schools of Copenhagen the same fact is shown. Although only 12 per 
cent of the children are in bad health at the age of 6, in one year there 
was an increase of 18 per cent in the amount of illness. 

The uniformity in the rate of increase of disease in the Danish schools 
is remarkable. 



22 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

lu these charts it will be noted that there is a drop in the line after 
12 and 13 years, indicating a decrease in ill health from this age. This 
is explained by the fact that after 12 years the feeble or sick children, 
unable to keep up in the race, gradually drop out of the classes. The 
stronger girls continue, and thus the morbidity per cent decreases from 
year to year. Those who continue to graduation represent the fittest 
who have survived in the struggle. 

The same increase in morbidity with increasing age and with prog- 
ress from class to class is seen to exist in the boys' schools of Swedeu. 

At the end of the third class the boys separate into the classical 
and "Eeal" divisions. In the latter the studies are scientific and 
objective. There results a rapid decrease in morbidity in the "Real" 
scholars, but in the sixth "Real" class the decrease changes to increase, 
and from this time on the rate of increase is the same as in the 
classical schools. (See Diagram III.) 

This fact is an interesting one, and suggests the greater injury of 
classical studies in the young and the advantages of scientific study 
as far as health is concerned. 

By morbidity is not meant ill health in general, but of certain 
definite morbid conditions, easily recognized and constituting states of 
disease. 

The departures from a state of health were chiefly found in the 
nervous system, the eye, the blood, digestive system, and general 
nutrition. Among the diseased conditions observed were nervousness, 
muscular twitchings, chorea, stammering, mental dullness, short sight 
and other eye affections, habitual headache, insomnia and melancholia, 
lateral curvature of the spine, aujcmia, chlorosis, neuroses of the 
heart, as palpitation and irregularity, indigestion and other derange- 
uieuts of the digestive organs, low nutrition, and imperfect or arrested 
development. 

Nervous disorders were among the most common and the most 
serious conditions observed. The great increase in morbidity is chiefly 
due to the rapid development of these diseases and to failure in 
eyesight. 

The following diagram demonstrates the increase in nervous dis- 
orders in the schools of Moscow. In the eighth class nearly 70 per 
cent of the scholars have some form of nervous malady, being an 
increase of 60 per cent as compared with the first class. 

At the age of 19 over 75 i)er cent showed some symptoms of an 
abnormal state of the nervous system, and between the ages of 15 and 
19 the increase of such symptoms was over ()5 per cent. (Diagram lY.) 

THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL LIFE ON EYESIGHT. 

Alterations in eyesight may be taken to represent the effect of the 
strain of school life ui)on the child. If the eye fails under the strain 
it may be concluded that all other parts of the nervous system, as well 
as all other immature organs, will fail under the same conditions. 

The facts as shown in the accompanying diagrams are the rapid 
development of defects and progressive deterioration in vision as chil- 
dren go from class to class and afford a striking picture of the effect of 
nerve strain in general. 

The prevalence of near sight and its increase with age and with prog- 
ress from class to class in the children of European schools has been 
noted by a' large number of observers. The Swedish commission found 
an increase in near sight from per cent in the lowest to 37.3 per cent 



/ u DIAGRAM III. 

INCREASE /N MORB/D/TY W/T/t CLASSES AND AGE. 

Boys Schools, Sweden. (Key.) 





Common Schoo/s. 




Latin and Reai Scfyoois. 




C/asses 

SO 
49 

48 


I 


n 


in 


IV 


V 


VI, 


VT, vn, ^ vn. 


\ 
1 








i Latir 


' Sci?ot 


-is./ 


^52.77o i S8./7o\ i-I.J'% 




'Comn-iOn an 





(I ii 


a 


11 


1 




\ ■ --j- — j» — 

v' 


1 




Real Sc/?oo 


's. 




/ 






1 




47 
46 





« u 




1 


1 




1 






A 


/nciua/n^ Ni 


'ars/£ft 


^ / 






1 

1 
t 






45 
44 


B 


Excfud/n^ 


« 


/ 






1 
1 

1 












,^ 


y 






1 
1 






43 
42 








y 






1 
1 
t 












/ % 








1 

1 

1 








% 40 
^ 39 

>:> 38 

^ 37 

^ 36 
35 
34 
33 
32 
31 
30 
29 
28 

?7 




/ 


\ 








t 
1 










/ 


\ 








1 
1 








4 


/ 




\ 






* * 

/ 


\ 






/ 






• 




/ 


/ 

/ 


K ; 




A^ 


• — 
/ 

— A . 


■■'^N 


"A 




/ 


/ 
/ 










/ 


\ 


\ 


"A. 


/ 


' 




/ • 




1 
/ 




\ 






^ / 


/ 







/ 
/ 






\ 


• w 




/ 










\ 






,y 












\ 








/ 












\ 






/ 














\ 






/ 
















\ 




/ 














\ 


I 


















\ 


/ 




















•^, 


^25. 


3% 








1 ^ 


//.3 

1 


/2.3 




'/4.3 


/5.4 


/6.S 


17.4 


/8.3 


19.4 






"14.6 


15.7 

\ 


/6.6 


17.6 


18.7 


19.6 



i 



DIAGRAM JV. 



/NCfiEASE IN Nervous Disturbances. 
Moscow Schools (Nesteroee.J 



75 
70 
65 
60 
55 
50 
45 
40 
35 
30 
25 
20 
J5 
10 
5 


By Classes. 


By Ages. 


P 1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 




10 


!l 


12 


13 


14 15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


2/ 






































K 










































w 






















y 


! 
















X 


1 




















1 


/ 


















\ 


j 




1 


















I 






















V 




























































































I 














h 








































i 
















































i 








































j 




1 




















1 


















1 


r 


















I 


\ 




















1 


1 
















I 


V 


/ 




1 


















1 
















1 










y 
















I 


















I 







































































DIAGRAM V. 

Increase of Nearsight with progress through classes. 
Munich INTERMEDIATE Schools.(Seg6el.) 



Classes. 


I 


n 


III 


IV 


V 


VI 


vn 


\1U 


55 

50 

^ 45 
% 

S 40 
V 

1 30 
?5 
20 
15 






























^ 


■^ 












X 


/^ 












/ 


/ 


























/ 














y 


y 












/ 


/ 














/ 

















DIAGRAM VI. 

Increase of Nearsight with age. Girls Schools. 



Sweden (Key.) 



A^e 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


16 


19 


20 


21 


22 

and 
Over. 


55 
50 
45 
40 

:^35 

<.30 

20 
15 
10 
5 
































\ 






























































J 
































































/ 
































/ 






























/ 




























A 


I 
























_^ 


^ 


J 


h 


V 






















l\ 


/ 




V 














\ 


K 








J 


f 






















V 


-^ 


y^ 






















570 






7.1 


4.0 


2.8 


4.8 


5.4 


6.3 


12.4 


14.9 


16.3 


14.0 


21.4 


151 


28.0 


36.3 



Jl 



DIAGRAM VII 

INCREASE IN OHORTS/G/IT mTH PROGRESS THROUGH CLASSES. 

London Elementary Schools. CCrichton-Browne.) 




DIAGRAM VIU. 

increase of fvears/ght with classes and age. 
Boys Schools, Sweden. (Key) 





Full Class Schools. 




5 Class Schools\3 Class 


Sc//col\ 


c/asses. 

29 
28 
27 
26 
25 
24 
23 
22 
21 

4$ 16 
^ 15 
^ 14 
13 
12 
11 
10 
9 
8 
7 
6 


I 


n 


m 


IV 


V 


n 


VI. 


vn, 


m 


I 


II 


m 


rv^ 


V 


I 


n 


m 
















32.5%^ 


-^. 


?7.5 


5 


































































/ 


































j 


1 




































































/ 


' \ 
































/ 


' 




\ 
I 










1 




















/ 






\ 
1 






























/ 




1 


• 
































1 


































• 


1 
1 














1 




















1 


{ 
\ 1 














' 


















1 


\ I 
\ 1 


































/ 
/ 


• 
































/ 


' 
















/ 

/ 
1 


















i / 

/ / 
















1 


1 

; 
















'/ 


















/ 


















/ 
/ 
















i 




















/ 
/ 














r 




















i 


I 
















s 
















f 


s/ 
















I 


















1 

1 
















J 


















/ 


















/ 












/ 






J 
















/ 


/ 










/ 


































/ 










11. a 


12.3 


13.4 


L 

14.3 


15.4 


16.5 


17.4 


/8.3 


/a^ 


//..5- 


72.6 


13.4 


i 
/■^.j 


/5".5 


//.^ 


12.3 


13.7 




R 

146 


15.7 


16.6 


17.6 


18.7 


19.5 


14. S 


/5.6 




/i_^ -„ f / „^.„ c^t.^^/^ 




L/On 

Rsc 


rirriL 

lis 


III c 

cho 


UIU 

o/s. 


i-ai 


III V 


^c// 


iJUIk 


>. 















PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 23 

in the highest classes of certaiu boys' schools, and this increase wa& 
fonud to bear a direct relation to the length and amonnt of stndy. In 
girls' schools the same investigators found a gain in nearsightedness 
from 7.1 i)er cent at 8 years of age to 57.1 per cent in the twenty-second 
year or over. Seggel noted an increase of near sight from 16.5 per cent 
in the first to 54 per cent in the eighth class of the Munich intermediate 
schools. (See Diagram V.) 

Cohn, of Breslau, whose name is familiar to all opthalmologists, 
maintains: 

1. That myopia increases with the demands made upon the eyes. 

"2. That the number of shortsighted scholars increases regularly from 
the lower to the higher classes in educational institutions. 

3. That myopia not only becomes more common, but worse in degree, 
with advance from class to class. 

In an examination of 10,000 children of all grades he found: (1) In 
country schools, 1 per cent of short sight; (2) In elementary schools^ 
5.11 percent; (3) In grammar schools, 20.10 per cent; (4) In colleges,, 
30.35 per cent; (5) In University of Tubingen, 70 per cent. 

In 1896 Carter, among 8,125 children in the London schools, discov- 
ered that but 39.15 per cent enjoyed normal vision. Numerous other 
autliorities could be quoted if necessary to prove that near sight exists^ 
in European schools and that it increases in frequency and degree as 
pupils advance from the lower to the higher grades. 

The following chart, based upon the examination of the eyes of girls in 
Swedish schools, illustrates the great increase in short sight between 
the ages of 7 and 22 years. At the earlier age 54 per cent and at 22 
years and beyond between 50 and 60 per cent of the scholars are near- 
sighted. (See Diagram VI.) 

In Diagram VII the diiference in the rate ot increase in short sight 
in boys and girls is demonstrated. The eyes of girls deteriorate more 
rapidly than those of boys, and there are a larger number of girls than 
boys who suffer in this way. The increase in near sight in the prog- 
ress from class to class is also exhibited in the children of the London 
elementary schools. In the first class 2.5 per cent of the scholars were 
found to be nearsighted and 9.2 per cent in the sixth chiss. 

In the next diagram (VIII) the differences in the prevalence of near 
sight in the schools in which the pupil passes through three, five, and 
seven classes is illustrated. The longer the period of study the larger 
is the number of pupils who suffer from defective eyesight at the end 
of school instruction. Thus at the end of the seventh year in the 
seven-year course of study over 30 per cent of the pupils are near- 
sighted; at the end of the fifth year in the five-year course less than 
24 per cent are thus affected. 

In the three-year class schools, which are in the country districts and 
designed for the peasants' children, less than 8 ]ier cent of the children 
have short sight at the end of the instruction. The conclusion is inevi- 
table that tlie longer the period of study the greater is the injury to 
the eye and the greater is the number of myopic graduates from the 
schools. 

Another interesting fact is shown also in this curve, namely, that in 
the "Eeal" schools the amount of induced short sight is much less than 
in the classical schools. 

In the United States many ophthalmologists have examined the eyes 
of many thousands of school children, and there is an abundant litera- 
ture upon this subject. The results obtained by different investiga- 
tors agree with each other and are, in many respects, similar to those 



24 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

observed in Europe. According: to D. 1>. Smith, in children under 6 
myopia is rare. From 7 to 1-J years it increases 1 per cent a year; 
from 12 to li years, 4i per cent; from 14 to 18 years of age the per- 
centage of increase is greater. 

Examinations made in the Cincinnati schools sho\yed an increase in 
near sight from 10 per cent in the intermediate to 14 per cent in the 
high and 16 per cent in the normal schools. In Memphis short sight 
was found to increase from almost nothing in the lowest to 15 per cent 
in the highest classes. In Columbus the increase was from almost 
nothing to ll.-j per cent in seventeen years. 

A similar condition of affairs was found in Kansas City and else- 
where. 

, In Circular of Information No. 6 of the United States lUireau of 
Education (1881), Callioun says that the report of the examination of 
45,000 school children in the United States, irrespective of age, sex, 
color, in city and country, show that near sight increases from nothing 
in the lowest to 00 to 70 per cent in the highest classes. Tlie grade or 
•degree of near sight increases as well as its fre(|uency. 

Many more facts could be brought forward in proof, but those 
quoted are sufficient to show that school life has a deleterious eflect 
upon the eyes ot children. 

HEADACHE. 

Headaclie is met with in school children and school life increases its 
frequency and severity. 

Inquiry by Guillame in Paris and Becker in Darmstadt, by Faye and 
Hald in Germany, and others, have shown that Iron) 40 to 50 per cent 
of the scholars in ])ublic schools suller Irom habitual headache due to 
brain exhaustion from school work. 

Of 6,580 pupils in tlie London elementary schools 46.1 per cent were 
found to be affected with habitual lieadaclie by Crichton-Browne. These 
headaches were of an atia-mic or neurasthenic type, the latter i)redom- 
inating, and were usually frontal. Girls were more often affected than 
boys. (See Diagram IX.) 

It was fouiid that there was an increase in habitual headache in rela- 
tion to classes from 40.5 ])er cent boys and 46.2 per cent girls in the 
first chiss, to 42.0 boys and 70.6 j)er cent girls in the sixtli class. 

The same thing was observed by Key in the prc[)aratory scliools of 
Stockholm, where there was an increase from 2.2 percent in the first to 
11 per cent in the fourth class, and from 4 per cent at 8 years of age to 
44 per cent at the age of 13. (See Diagram X.) 

According to Crichton-Browne, the headache of high scliool girls 
begins with the school term, grows more fre(iuent and intense as it 
progresses, and disapi)ears in the holidays to reap]tear with the begin- 
ning of school life. 

The same effect of alternate work and rest was note<l by this same 
■observer in the children of the London elenientarj^ schools who suffered 
from iiabitual headache. In the morning 12.4 per cent of the scholars 
had headache; in the afternoon 22.3 per cent, and with the evening's 
rest the perttentage fell to 11.1. (See Diagram XI.) 

Nesterott" observed similar headache in Moscow school children at the 
end of the day's lessons. The facts here mentioned are corroborated 
by results of investigations undertaken by IJystroff in St. Petersburg. 
Among 7,478 srhool children 5 i)er cent of those at 8 years of age suf- 
fered from so-called school headache, and this increased from 28 to 40 
iper cent between 14 and 18 years. 



DIAGRAM IX. 

Increase in Headache in relation to classes, 
London Elementary Schools. (Crichton- Browne) 



Classes. 


Percent of Children. 


t 


' I 


I 


5" 2 


2S ^ 


^ 35 40 4S so 65 69 6S 70 7 


5 


^fl 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 




Boys. 


mMwMM 


Sm _ 
















V 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 










Boys. 


g 


i 


WM, 


^ 

m 


i 


MM 
















IV 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 












Boys. 


WM. 


il 




3 




; 
















HI 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 












Boys. 




i 


'4 




1 












II 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 












Boys. 


'/'/A///. ■//. \/// ///. 4^/y ■'///. '^//a 
















I 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 














Boys. 




i^^^^J 

















DIAGRAM X. 

Increase /n Headache. Preparaivry Schools 
OF Stockholm. (Key.) 



40 

35 

^ 30 

O 
^ 20 

/S 
10 

s 


By C/ asses. 


By /Iges. 


I 


n 


m 


IV 


6 


7 


8 


9 


/o 


// 


12 


/3 


14 
























\ 




















































\ 


\ 


























\ 
























































/^ 


sy 


/ 








/^ 


^^ 




i 








\ 


■^r 








1 


K 


V 


^ 


1 










/ 












1 















^ c^ 






X 

5 



I 



I 

5 



Q^ 



; ^ 
^ "^ 



^ 

5 

^ 

^ 



I 




PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 25 

No data have been obtained as to the prevalence of headache in the 
school children of this country. Hamilton sent printed blanks to the 
public schools of New York City. From the replies received he asserts 
that 10 per cent of grammar school and 15 per cent of primary school 
children have headache. In this instance we have the oi)posite of what 
has been always found elsewhere, namely, the existence of more head- 
ache in the younger children and lower classes. 

1 know of no other investigations on this subject in this country. 

SLEEP. 

Sleeplessness, sleep talking and sleep walking, as accompaniments of 
neurasthenia, have been shown to be not infrequent in school children, 
and to be due to the conditions of school life. Crichton-Browne notes 
that 38 per cent of the pupils in the London elementary schools suffer 
from sleeplessness, the boys showing a higher percentage than the girls; 
also, in one school of 381 boys, he found 129 sleep talkers and 28 sleep 
walkers; in one school of 432 girls there were 17, and in another school 
of 482 girls, 20 somnambulists. This observer learned that parents 
frecjuently complained to teacliers that their children talked of lessons 
in their sleep, and arithmetic and sums seemed to be the chief disturb- 
ing element. 

SUICIDE. 

In Prussia between the years 1883 and 1888 (Zeitschr. fiir Schulge- 
sundheitspfl., 1802, v. 229) 289 pupils in schools committed suicide, of 
whom 179 or more than one-half were in the lower classes. Fear of 
examination or failure to be i)romoted, quarrels with teachers, morbid 
ambition, fear of punishment, and other incidents relating to school 
life, were the causes assigned by 121 of those who destroyed themselves. 
There is no note of such a tendency in this country, at least none upon 
which any reliance can be placed. 

INCREASE OF DISEASE WITH INCREASE OF THE NUMBER OF HOURS 

OF STUDY. 

In the Swedish and Danish inquiries the greatest care was taken to 
insure accuracy in determining the effect of the number of hours of 
study upon morbidity. The scholars were taken in small groups and 
every possible source of error was eliminated. 

In Sweden it was found that the morbidity was ."i.S y)er cent higher 
in those who worked over the average time and in Denmark 7 per cent. 
In those schools which made more than the usual demands upon the 
students the per cent of sick children exceeded the average per cent 
of morbidity by from 3 to 10 per cent in some classes. In the Stock- 
holm schools esi)ecially burdened by work, the per cent of those in bad 
health exceeded the average morbidity from 4 to 7 per cent. Moreover 
it was ascertained that the morbidity increased pari passu with the 
number of school hours. 

One can not fail to have been struck, from what has gone before, with 
the dissimilarity between the general amount of ill health in the schools 
of Sweden and those of Denmark. To emphasize this point it is only 
necessary to compare the statistics obtained by the Swedish and Danish 
observers, which show that the morbidity among boys in Denmark is 
29 per cent and in Sweden 37 per cent; while among girls in Denmark 
it is 41 per cent and in Sweden 01.7 per cent. 



2G PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

I was at a los-s to account for this until I ascertained that the 
demands upon the scholars' time were greater in Sweden than in Den- 
mark. In each country about four hours of study daily are required 
of the lower classes, while in the upper classes of Denmark nine to 
nine and a half hours, and in Sweden ten to eleven hours, are neces- 
sary. In girls' schools the number of hours spent in study is far greater 
in Sweden than in Denmark. 

The following curve shows the excess of morbidity in children who 
work above the average time as compared with those who study less 
than the average time. (See Diagram XII.) 

DECREASE IN ATTENDANCE — CAUSES. 

It may have been observed in some of the percentages that have 
been quoted that the number of scholars has diminished and the curve 
of morbidity declined in the last years and in the highest classes of the 
various schools investigated. The diminution in the size of the classes 
by the departure of those who left school to enter higher educational 
institutions or business would have affected the morbidity i)ercentag"e, 
if at all, by increasing it, the strong and successful going out, the 
sickly and backward remaining behind. This, therefore, can not 
account for a descending morbidity curve at the end of school life. 
The true explanation is that the delicate and ill have fallen out, unable 
to keep up in the race, and the strong and lustj^ are left behind at 
school. 

The robust health enjoyed by girls and young women in certain of 
our colleges, in spite of the severe tasks imi)osed upon them, is fre- 
quently used as a basis for an argument thought to be convincing and 
unanswerable. It is maintained, therefore, that there is no overpres- 
sure in oar schools, and nothing wrong witli our system of education. 
This argument is fallacious. Xo account is taken of the many who 
have collapsed in the struggle of school life. Our higher colleges for 
girls are attended by the fittest who have survived in this struggle. 

Faye and Held have proved that the api)arent increase in the health 
in the highest classes of the Christiania (Norway) schools is due to the 
elimination of the sick and the fiagile. In sj)ite of this withdrawal they 
maintain that 13 per cent of the picked girls who remained in school 
until graduation left it hani])ered by broken health of greater or less 
severity. Burgenstein and others note the same thing. 

But further Euroi)ean statistics are unnecessary, since the decrease 
in school attendance by reason of illness, and its cause, overpressure, is 
brought home to us by the results of the Cleveland investigation, already 
referred to. Of 800 pupils in the Cleveland High School, 1*5 per cent of 
the girls and 18 per cent of the boys withdrcAv in one year for various 
reasons. Seventy-five per cent of the girls who left did so wholly or in 
part on account of bad health, and nearly 5(> per cent of the boys were 
in bad health while at school, and 33 \)er cent of those who withdrew 
were compelled to do so by reason of physical disability. 

Winsor saj^s that out of a class of 17 i)upils at Waltham High School 
in Massachusetts 9 were removed in their graduating year on account 
of ill health. 

THE SCHOOL AS A CAUSE OF DISEASE. 

Having shown that disease exists among school children and bears a 
relation to the conditions of school life, can we go further than this and 
assert that the influences of school life originate the diseases in question ? 



DIAGRAM XII. 



Common and Lat/n Schools. 
Sweden (Key.) 



WeeKly 


39.0 


41.5 


43.3 


47.2 


5J.0 


57.6 


58.8 


59.3 


58.9 


WorK 
time 

in 
Hours. 


Ddily. 


6.30 


6.55 


7.13 


7.52 


8.30 


9.36 


9.48 


9.59 


9.49 


76 

14 

72 

70 

68 

66 

64 

62 

60 

58 

J6 

54 

52 

50 

48 

46 

44 

42 

40 

38 

56 

34 
32 




































\ 






































n 


H 


















/ i 


\\ 


















/ / 




















/ 
1 




\ 










h 




\ 


1 
1 




l\ 










/ 


\ 


\ 


T 

/ 




\ \ 










/ 


\ 


J 


/ 

/ 
/ 








*s 




/ 






/ 


r 




\ 




^v, 


X 


/ 




Av 


1 

1 






« 






\ 


J 


/ 




'*-.' 














V 


/ 

• 














•.^ 






















-^- 
































































Those f 


'ho yvor 


'(oyer / 


'te a^er, 


ige fitn 


?. 












Those n 


ho won 


'(/ess ft 


an the < 


r,-^,rage 


time. 

































































PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 27 

Three dittereut opinions may be held : (1) That children enter the school 
already affected with disease; (2) that they become ill from influences 
entirely outside of the school; (3) or that school life and its incidents 
give origin to these maladies of childhood. 

1. In regard to the first of these propositions, it must be admitted 
that heredity has a marked influence in causing the neuroses of school 
children, and that defective development from improper feeding in 
infancy and early childhood, as well as injurious mental and physical 
hygiene have much to do with causing illness in or out of school. A 
certain percentage of children under any system of education will be 
feeble and will suffer from ])erversions of health. What this percent- 
age is can not be determined with any accuracy as there are no statistics 
as to general morbidity in childhood that can be relied upon. 

2. It must also be admitted that much of the ill health in early 
life is due to causes outside of the school, such as unhealthy homes, 
improper feeding, etc, but, knowing the beneflt of outdoor life and 
freedom from brain work in childhood, we must conclude that, as a rule, 
the surroundings outside of the school are in the main antagonistic to 
disease. Irregular hours of eating, liurried meals, indoor study, and 
late hours would not exist without the demands of school, and there- 
fore may be classed with the other influences that are necessary inci- 
dents of school life. 

3. In the i^resent state of our knowledge it would not be just to 
assert that the class of diseases mentioned are always the direct result 
of school life and that they would not exist without them, but certain 
considerations go far to show that the actual disturbances of the nerv- 
ous system found in school children are just those that would result 
from excessive demaiids made upon the child mind. Tliatis, the head- 
ache, insomnia, nervousness, etc., are "fatigue symptoms" and might 
be induced in any child if the brain and nervous system were taxed 
beyond their capacity. 

The effect of fatigue in the nervous system has been carefully studied 
by Mosso, of Turin, and his former pupils and assistants, Maggiora, 
Aduccoand Patrizi, and by Hodge in this country. Their conclusions, 
from their various studies, are that fatigue induces anatomical altera- 
tions in nerve structure, chiefly in the cells of the ganglia and central 
nervous system. The fatigue point varies with age, being reached much 
sooner in a young child than in an older one, but when reached deteri- 
oration of nerve structure follows. Best restores lost energy and the 
exhausted cell resumes its normal ai^pearance, but constant overstrain 
prevents proper repair and there is a progressive loss of energy, and 
sometimes permanent anatomical injury and permanent enfeeblement of 
the whole nervous apparatus. 

SCHOOL INSTRUCTION IS BEGUN AT TOO EARLY AN AGE. 

In seeking reasons for the evil effects of school life upon children, the 
first inquiry is as to what age is the proper one for the beginning of 
formal school instruction. Anatomical and physiological considerations 
show conclusively that the fatigue point is reached earlier in immature 
organs and that if the child enters school when the body and brain are 
unfit for the work put upon them there is a reasonable certainty that 
abnormal conditions will be brought about. 

At birth the childs' brain is an undeveloped organ; during its first 
four years the growth is rapid, although its relative increase in size is 
less than that of other organs. By the seventh or eighth year the brain 
has nearly reached its full weight, the subsequent increase being small. 



28 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

The following chart shows the variatious in brain weight between 1 
and 24 years. It will be seen how rapid is the gain in weight between 
the ages of 1 and 8 J years. From the age of 8i the brain weight is 
almost stationary. 

{(() The weight of the male child's brain at birth is 372 grams, that 
of the adult male's is 1,360 grams; there is an absolute increase, there- 
fore, of 98S grams the greater part of which is gained during the first 
seven or eight years. 

It may be added that at birth the brain of the male child is relatively 
heavier than that of the female. 

The greater part of the growth of the brain takes place before formal 
education is begun, very little growth coming after this, being of sta- 
tionary weight during the years of seliool education between 10 and 25 
years. 

{b) The great enlargement of the brain during these first years is 
shown by estimates of the volume of the central nervous system, made 
by Professors Mall and Donaldson. At birth the volume of the encepha- 
lon and cord is 370 cubic centimeters. In the adult it is 1,340 cubic 
centimeters oi an increase of 004 cubic centimeters, the greater part of 
which gain occurs during the first seven years of life. 

(e) Another fact of importance is that the brain of the child has 
relatively a large amount of water and a small amount of nerve tissue 
as compared with the adult brain. At birth the brain peicentage of 
water is about 89. In the adult it is about 70i. The infant brain has 
about 19 per cent more water than the adult brain. 

{(1) The differences in the amount (»f nerve tissue are even more strik- 
ing. In the child at birth the i)ereentage of the solid matter of the 
corpus callosum was found to be 3.S.">; in the adult, 15.41 — that is, 
there is nearly 12 per cent more solid matter in the adult than in the 
child brain. The change, therefore, going on in the child's brain dur- 
ing the first eight years, as indicated by these figures, is very great, 
and the first eight years may be said to be the most important of a 
child's life, as judged by these changes. 

{(') The growth of the brain is a growth of its constituent elements, 
and es])ecially the nerve elements. The nerve elements begin as small 
neuroblasts* and grow larger by increase of all parts of the cell. There 
is an increase in the mass of the cell body and cell outgrowths, espe- 
cially of the axis cylinder, which before becoming functional requires a 
medullary sheath. 

Increase in the size of the cell is first rapid, then slow; as a rule, it 
grows as long as the general growth of the body continues. 

The growth of the cell is shown by the following figures: His meas- 
ured the germinal cells of man and found their diameter to be 11 microns 
and their volume 097 cubic microns. The diameter of the adult cells 
was 50 microns and their volume 05,312 cubic microns (0.3937 inch = 
1 mm. = 1,000 microns, and 1 cubic millimeter = 1,000,000,000 cubic 
microns). In the infant brain the nerve elements bear the i)roportion 
of 1 to 100 in the adult brain. 

It is estimated by Donaldson that for the necessary growth of the 
brain from birth to adult life each nerve element in the central system 
must have an average increase in volume of 447 times. The largest 
elements do increase 10,000 times in volume. 

* Neuroblast is the nucleus with surroundinji,' cytoplasm, and that portion of the 
cytoplasm which forms the neuron or axis cylinder process. 



DIAGRAM XIII 

Var/at/ons /n Bra/n We/ght at 



D/FFERENT A6ES(I^/ER0RDT) 



gfrms. 
1600 

1400 

J200 

WOO 

800 

600 

400 

200 


A^e in Years. 
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 J6 18 20 22 24 






























































.Av 


J 


A 


/ 


\^ 


s^/ 


Ss, 


/ 


^ 




j 


vV 


-V 


/ ^ 


V 


\ 


/ 


/ 




\ 


/ 








V 


\ 


/ 




1 

1 


> 




\ 




-• -V 


^« 




i 


r 


\ 


/ 

1 




















/ 


























/ 
























I* 






















































































Ma 


fes. 




























Eemi 


les._^ 































































































* 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 29 

(/) The increase in the number of nerve elements ft^ora birth to adult 
life is very great. As increase in the bulk of the brain is due to increase 
in the number of nerve elements as well as in their volume, an increase 
from 370 cubic centimeters of volume at birth to 1,340 cubic centime- 
ters in the adult represents an euormous increase in the number of 
structural elements. 

In the cortex of the hemispheres there are 1,200 millions of ganglion 
cells; in the central system there are 3,000 millions of cells. 

In the cervical enlargement there are at birth 104,270 nerve cells; at 
the age of 15 years, 211,800 ; and in the adult man, 221,200 — that is, 
between birth and 15 years there is an increase of 107,530 cells, and 
between 15 years and manhood an increase of only 9,400 cells; there- 
fore, the increase in cells is before 15 more than eleven times greater 
than it is after 15. As the greatest increase in volume and weight is 
before 8 years, we may conclude that this enormous increase in nerve 
elements occurs during the first eight years of life. 

{ff) It has been estimated that there is a relation between growth of 
the body and the increase in nerve elements. This conclusion is based 
upon investigation of the nervous system of frogs. In them the largest 
frogs have the largest number of nerve elements. A frog weighing 23 
grams had 7,562 dorsal root fibers, and one of 63 grams 106,770 fibers. 
We may infer, therefore, that with greater body growth there is a rela- 
tively greater increase in the number of nerve elements. 

(/i) With the growth of the brain, and after increase in weight and 
volume has been completed, the chief change is in the folding of the 
surface and the production of the gyri. Thus there is a provision made 
for the increase in the nerve elements, and the cells must be physio- 
logically connected with each other. The area of the cortex is thus 
increased, and in the adult the cortical area is three times that of the 
infant, the larger brains having a greater area than the smaller. With 
increased size the cortex is also thickened. The growth of the brain is 
related to complexity of structure, and the larger the brain the greater 
is the structural basis for physiological activity. With increased growth 
there are larger nerve elements, a greater number of them a higher 
organization and a more perfect nutrition. 

The ultimate value of the mind is therefore closely related to the 
growth of the brain in the first eight years of life; for during this 
period there is (1) growth in the weight of the brain; (2) growth in 
its volume; (3) an increase in density and a diminution of the contained 
water; (4) an increase in the amount of nerve tissue; (5) a growth in 
the size of the nerve elements, especially the cells; (6) an increase in 
number of nerve elements; and (7) an increase in the thickness and 
area of the cortex. 

If it is true that during the first seven or eight years of life the brain 
is growing in weight and volume, that the cortex cells are increasing 
in size and forming associative relations with other cells, that this is 
the period of growth, development, and organization, is it right to begin 
formal education at this time ? Should memory be taxed or the intel- 
lectual faculties be stimulated when the nutritive activities alone can 
bring the brain to perfection ■? There is a law of nature that can not be 
broken with impunity: if you tax a growing organ to perform a too 
active function— a function beyond its ability to perform for any length 
of time without fatigue — you exhaust the organ and delay or destroy its 
promise of perfect development. 

The opinions expressed here are not in accord with the laws and 



% 



30 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

customs fixing the age of the beginning of formal school instruction 
in the United States. The following resume gives the compulsory and 
voluutary ages in the diflerent States and Territories: 

Ages of compulxory attendance in schools of the United States. 

Six years. — District of Columbia, Wjoinin<f. 

Seven years. — Rhode Island, New Jersey, Kentucky, Illinois, Micliigan, Wisconsin. 

Seren or eiyht years. — Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Con- 
necticut, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, < )]iio, Indiana, Minnesota, North 
Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, 
Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California. 

Age of permitted voluntary attendance. 

Four years. — C(Uinecticut, Wisconsin, Oregon. 

Five years. — Maine, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Mississippi, Michi- 
gan, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Idaho, Washington. 

Six years. — Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, West 
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida. Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, North Dakota, 
South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, 
California. 

Aye of children actually in attendance during first year. 

Four years. — Maine, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Oregon. 

Fire yearx. — New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, 
Virginia, Mississippi, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Idaho, Wash- 
ington, California. 

Six years. — Delaware, 1 )istrict of Columbia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, 
Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Indiana, Mis- 
souri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Nevada. 

Seven years. — Alabama. 

Eight years. — Pennsylvania, Texas. 

SCHOOL SYSTEM DOES NOT TAKE COGNIZANCE OF INDIVIDUAL 
DIFFERENCES IN CHILDREN. 

Among the 17,000,000 children in the public schools of the United 
States and the 40,000 in this city there must be great physical differ- 
ences; the weak and the strong, the well developed and the uudevel- 
0])ed are admitted and subjected to the same demands and discipline. 
The pace is, of course, set by the capacity of the stronger child, and 
all are forced along together. The pleasure of study and ambition of 
reward act as strongly ui)on the deficient and weak child as upon 
others. 

Professor Baldwin, of Princeton University, says: 

A great deal has been said and written about the physical and mental differences 
shown by the young; and one of the most oft-repeated of all the charges which we 
hear brought against the current tnethods of teaching is that all children are treated 
alike. The point is carried so far that a teacher is judged from the way he has or 
has not of getting at the children under him as individuals. AH this is a move in 
the right direction; and yet the subject is still so vague that many of the very 
critics who declaim against the similar treMtment which diverse pu])ils get at school 
have no clear idea of what is needed; they merely make demands that the treat- 
ment shall suit the child. How each child is to be suited, and the in(|uiry still 
back of that, what peculiarity it is in this child or that which is to be '"suited," 
these things are left to settle themselves. 

The differences of which we speak are ])hysical; the mental depends 
upon the physical, and thedifferences are definite and easily recognizable. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 31 



PRECOCITY. 

Among- the couditions of childhood that predispose to the adoption 
of too early an age for school stndy is the apparent readiness of the 
child for such instruction and his craving* for knowledge. In the pres- 
ent age there is a tendency to prematurity of the child intellect; this 
invites the effort to educate before the brain is ready in structure and 
function. 

What is the meaning of the precocious development of the higher 
brain function in the child? 

The intellectually precocious child is apparently more highly endowed 
than his fellows, and is, as a rule, in virtue of his precocity, pushed 
beyond them. This follows upon his own inclinations and fondness for 
brain work or the ill-judged efforts of parents and teachers. Griven 
the case of a child quick to respond to external impressions, and with 
an inherited emotional nature, it is not difficult to see how there may 
be developed, under artiticial stimulation, a preternatural growth of 
the intellectual faculties. The responsiveness of the child stimulates 
the parent to excite the memory and the reasoning powers, and in a 
short time we have a forced and unnatural result — a child old beyond 
its years, forced by a foolish system into prematurity. 

"Nature wills," said Rousseau, "that children should be children 
before they are men. If we seek to pervert this order we thus produce 
precocious fruit, without ripeness or ffavor, which quickly hastens to 
decay. We will have as a result young wise men and old children." 

In nature precocity belongs to an inferior scale of animal life. 
Agassiz was asked at a dinner table why it was that negro children 
were so much more apt in learning games than white children. His 
reply was that it was the universal law of nature that organisms 
destined to have an imperfect development underwent a premature 
development. 

Mr. Eeade, an African traveler, says that in equatorial Africa the 
negro children are "absurdly precocious." In all savage tribes there 
is earlier development than in the civilized races. Captain Burton 
says that "the negro child, in Africa, like the East Indian, is much 
sharper than the European, * * * at the age of puberty this pre- 
cocity * * * disappears." "There is in the savage," as Herbert 
Spencer says, "an early cessation of development with an inability to 
grasp complete ideas." In the Australian, after the age of 20 the 
mental vigor declines, and at 40 years is nearly extinct. 

It is quite true that many men and women who have afterwards 
gained great distinction in various lines of intellectual work, have 
shown preternatural mental power at a very early age. But it is a 
suggestive fact that the precocity of genius has chietly been among 
musicians, artists, sculptors, and poets: the higher scholars, philos- 
ophers, the most philosophical scientists, and even novelists, have not 
shown so many examples of premature capacity. A large proportion 
of those who have reached great eminence in the world have been pre- 
cocious in childhood; but this proves only the existence of exceptional 
cases of inherited genius combined with a normal development of great 
and inherited mental qualities; it does not prove that all precocity is 
an evidence of superior mind; that every i)recocious child is in virtue 
of his precociousness possessed of unusual intellectual power. On the 
contrary, facts of our daily experience go to show that children who 
are prematurely quick to learn and compose music, who recite poetry 
before they leave the cradle, and write verses soon after, tiie wonders 



32 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

of the fcimily and neighborhood, are uo better in after life than their 
more stupid and less phenomenal fellows. 

Tlie frequent association of precocity with ill-health does not make 
the conclusion inevitable that precocious children are necessarily feeble 
or that they are destined, as in the case of the savage, to an early decay 
of their mental powers. But the multiplication of the facts of experi- 
ence will show that there are a large number of precocious children who 
are more feeble than strong. Genius is rare, precocity is common ; pre- 
cocity is no evidence of genius except in rare instances, unless all genius 
is abnormal, as Nordau attempted to prove. 1 believe that precocity 
can exist and does exist without any promise of extraordinary mental 
expansion in the man, and that its presence is proof of a morbid irrita- 
bility of the sensorium. 

The quick intellect, the vivacity, the extraordinary power of memo- 
rizing, and the vivid imagination, qualities that are so attractive and 
such a source of pride to parents, are really signs of an abnormal state 
of the nerve centers. 

In the child of our race, as in all races and throughout nature, the 
premature cultivation of the higher brain function is sure to end in 
an abortive development of the intellect; the fruit will not ripen fully 
by any unnatural process known to man. 

There can be no doubt that by the judicious management of superior 
natural and inherited intelligence better results will be obtained than 
where no such intelligence exists, but injudicious efibrt will dwarf and 
abort intellectual growth. If a precocious tendency which is no sign 
of superiority is cultivated, the limit will soon be reached, and every 
organ in the body will be made to suffer in the general deterioration. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

From the foregoing it may be concluded that — 

1. All investigations made into the health of school children in this 
country or in Europe show that a large percentage i^resent signs of ill 
health. 

2. Departures from health in school children are primarily and chiefly 
in the nervous system and in the eye, although the general nutrition, 
the blood-making processes, and the digestion are also disordered. 

.'3. The same conditions of disease are seen in different countries and 
climates, and are so uniformly associated with school life that there is a 
reasonable presumption of a close relation between school instruction 
and these disorders. 

4. The facts stated in this paper show that there is a progressive 
increase in the sum total of disease with advance from class to class; 
that the percentage of disease varies also with the numl)cr of hours 
devoted to study and with the extent to which the brain of the pupil is 
taxed. 

5. Careful observations show that during the first eight years of life 
the brain is rapidly growing in weight and size and complexity of 
structure; that after eight years there is but little further increase in 
the size and development of the brain. The first eight years, therefore, 
demand su(!h a degree of rest of the brain as will best favor its growth 
and avoid overstrain of an immature organ. The premature strain put 
upon a growing organ, as yet unfit to perform its function, hinders its 
joroper development and brings about disorder in the function or disease 
of the organ. 

6. The beginning of school instruction before the age of 8 years is 
one of the causes of the prevalence of disease among school children. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



33 



The rapidly progressive deterioration in the eye shows how injurious is 
the overstrain of an immature organ, and the progressive increase of 
the so-called "school diseases" show the effect of continued strain upon 
the nervous system of the young. 

7. Another cause of disease is the admission of children who are 
X)hysically and mentally unfit to begin school instruction or who cannot 
bear the restraints of school life. Overstrain of an enfeebled nervous 
system quickly causes disease. 

8. The remedies suggested by these considerations are the fixing of 
8 years as the proper age to begin school instruction, instead of 4 to 6 
years, as at present permitted, and the demand for a proper medical 
certification as to the fitness — mental and physical — of each child who 
seeks admission to the schools. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



(I) Rep. of the Comm. of Ediicatiou, 
1892-93, Wash., 1895, i, 23. 

•(2) Hartwell, E. M. 

The death rates among children in the 
public schools. Tlie Independent, N. Y., 
xlvi, No. 2383, Aug. 2, 1894, 10 (986). 

(3) Mosso, A. 

Die Ermiiding. Leipz., 1892. 

(4) Hertel, a. 

Neue Untersuchungen iiber den Allege- 
meiuen Gesundheits-Zustand dcr. Srliiiler 
und Schiilerinnen. Zeitschr. f. Schul- 
gesnndheitspHegf. Hauib. u. Lt;ipz., 
1888, i, 167:201. 

(5) Hertel, A. 

Beitrag znr Belenchtuug des Krank- 
heits verhalteiis iiu Kindcsalter. Zeit- 
schr. f. Schulgesundheitspfl. Hamb. u. 
Leipz., 1894, 5U<. 

(6) BUROEHSTEIN, L. 

Axel Key's Scbulhygieuische Unter- 
suchungen. Hamb. u. Leipz., 1889. 

(7) Stroh.mijehc, C. 

Axel Key's Schulhygieni.sehe Unter- 
suchiiugeu, in Deutscher Bearbeitiing, 
herausgegeben von Dr. Leo Bnrgerstein in 
Wien. Zeitschr. f. Schulgesundheitspfl. 
Hamb. u. Leipz., 1S90, iii, 148. 

(8) CKICUTON-iiltOWNE, ,J. 

Copy of report of Dr. Crichton-Browne 
to the education department upon the 
alleged overpressure of work in public 
elementary schools. London, 1884. 

(9) Warner, F. 

Study of the nerve system of children. 
Arch. 'Pediat., Phila.,' 188.5, ii, 200-209. 

(10) A method of examining children 
in schools as to their development and 
brain condition. Brit. M. J., Lond., 
1888, ii, 659. 

(II) On the study of conditions of de- 
velopment and brain power in children. 
J. Ment. Sc, Loud., 1889, xxxv, 357-359. 

(12) Infancy, childhood, and school 
life; the scientific observation and study 
of children in schools, and the classes 
into which they may be grouped. Med. 
Press, and Circ, Loud., 1891, N. S., Iii, 
277-279. 



(13) The physical condition of children 
seen in schools and the local distribution 
of conditions of defective development. 
Tr. vii. Intemat. Cong. Hyg. and De- 
mog., 1891, Loud., 1892, x, 315-323. 

(14) The scientific observation and 
study of children in schools, and the 
classes into which they may be grouped. 
Tr. vii. Intemat. Cong. Hyg. and Demog., 
1891, London, 1892, iv, 10-15. 

(15) On the physical condition of chil- 
dren. Tr. San. Inst., 1892, Lond., 1893, 
xiii, 131-136. 

(16) VVarxei{, F. ct III. 

Physical and mental deviations from 
the normal among children in public, 
elementary, and other schools. Rep. 
Brit. Ass. Adv. Sc, Lond., 1894, 434-438. 

(17) The Pedagogical Seminary, 
Worcester, Mass. 

(18) NEsT^:ROFF, W. 

Die Moderue Schule und die Gesuud- 
heit. Zeitschr. f. Schulgesundheitspfl. 
Hamb. u. Leipz., 1890, iii, 313. 

( 19) H a n d b u c h d e r Neurasthenic. 
Bearbeitet von Dr. R. v. Hosslin, G. 
Hilnerfauth [cif <f/.]. Herausgegeben von 
Dr. Franz Carl Miiller. 8vo, , Leipz., 1893. 

(20) Hakonson-Haxsen, jNI. K. 
Weiteres iiber hygienische Untersuch- 
ungen in einer Anzahl hijherer Schulen 
Norwegens. Zeitschr. f. Schulgesund- 
heitspfl. Hamb. u. Leipz., 1893, vi, 396- 
403. 

(21) Hakonson-Hansen, M. K. 
Scbulhygieuische Untersuchungen in 

Norwegen. Zeitsch. f. Schulgesundheits- 
pfl., 1894, vii, 210. Hamb. u. Leipz. 

(22) Smith, D. B. 

Defective Eye-sight in School Chil- 
dren—its causes and remedy. Rep. Bd. 
Health, Ohio, 1886, Columbus, 1887, 236- 
242. 

(23) Carter, B. 

Eye-sight in School Children in Lon- 
don. London Letter, Med. Rec, N. Y., 
1896, 1, 251. 

(24) Calhovn, a. W. 

Circular of Information No. 6, 1881. 



S. Doc. 65- 



-3 



34 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



Washington, 1881. Effects of Student 
Life upon the Eye-sight. 
(L'5) Hamh;iox, A. Me[>. 

Tlie Prevaleiu-e of Nervous Disease 
among School Chihlren, etc. Am. Tsvch. 
J., N. Y., 1876, N. S. iii, 112-119. 

(26) LiNcur.x, I). F. 

School Hygiene. Cyclopa'ilia of tlie 
Diseases of ( hihlren, etc. John M. Keat- 
ing, Phila., 1891, iv, :U3. 

(27) Faikkieli), M. W. 

High Pressure vs. Hygiene in our Public 
Schools. Kep. Bd. Health, Micli.. 1882, 
Lansing, 188:5, 198-20S. 

(28) Chancellok. C. W. 

The Sanit;iry Conditions and Necessi- 
ties of School Life. Bienn. i^ep. Bd. 
Health, Maryland, 1886-7, Annapolis, 
1888, 478-.510. 

(29) Perky, W. S. 

The Hygiene of Study. Rep. Bd. 
Health, Mich., 1882, Lansing, 1883, 100- 
108. 

(30) WixsoK, F. 

School Hygiene. Rep. Bd. Healtli, 
Mass., 1874, Boston, 1874, 391-448. 

(31) Seggel. 

Bericht liber die Augen Untersuchun- 
geu. 

In: Berichtd.v. iizst. Bezirksy. Miin- 
chen Z, Prufung d. ICinfl. d. Steil u. 
Sehriig <Schrift (Schief Sehrift) Cewiihl. 
Commission. 

Miinch. Med. Wehnschr., 1893, xl, 246. 

[Also] : Zeitschrf. Scliulgesnndheitspn. 
Hamb. u. Leipz., 1894, vii, 284. 

The following references bear directly 



upon this paper, but haye not been iu- 
chided in tlie text : 

B( HGKHSTKIX. L. 

The Working ("iirvi- of an Hour: an 
Experiment Coneerniug Oyer-pressure of 
Brain. Trans. VII, Internat. Cong. Hyg. 
and Deniog., Loud., 1891, iv, 87. 

CoWLKS, E. 

Nenrastlieniaand its Mental Symptoms. 
The Shattuek Lecture, 1891. 8vo, Bos- 
ton, 1891. 

The Mechanism of Insanity. • Am. J. 
Insau.. Utica, N. Y., 1891-2, xlviii, 49: 
209. 
Hodge, C. F. 

A .Microseo])ieal Study of Changes Due 
to Functional Activity iu Nerve Cells. 
.1. of MorphoL, 1892, yii, 9.5. 
Kexxedy, Helen P. 

Effects of 1 Hgh School Work ujion (Jirle 
during Adolescence. Ped. Seminary, 
Worcester, 1896, iii, 469. 
Laser, H. 

I'e1)er g(ustige Ermiiding beim Sehul- 
unterrichte. Zeitschr. f. Schulgesund- 
heitsptl. Hamb. u. Leijiz., 1891, yii, 2. 
Maggiora, a. 

Les lois de la fatigue otudiees dans les 
muscles <le riiomme. [Rev.], in: Am. J. 
Psychol., M'orcester, 1891, iii, 377-378. 
Porter, W. J. 

The Physical Basis of Precocity and 
Dullness. ' Tr. Acad. Sc, St. Louie, 1893, 
yi, 161-181, 2 pi. 
Taylor, 11. L. 

American Childhood from a Medical 
Standpoint. 12yo, N. Y., 1892. 



THE INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL LIFE UPON THE TEACHER. 



By Dr. Siilif A. Nordliotf-Jung. 

A great deal has beeii said and done for the school children and the 
hygiene of the school, and I think it will not be out of place to say a 
few words about the influence of school life ujion the health of the 
teacher. It seems as though in proportion to the innovations and 
improvements made for the benefit of the children, the teacher's lot 
becomes a harder one. We have in this city about 1,100 teachers, most 
of Avhom are women, and 40,100 school children, maldng an average of 
40 children to each teacher. The conimiinity ex[)ects the children to be 
properly taught, and this can only be done by a healthy corps of teachers. 

Now, the question arises : What is the sanitary condition of teachers 
in our public schools? For several years I have had oi)portunities to 
study the influence of school life ui)on the health of women teachers. 

Besides my own experience, I have endeavored to collect some un- 
biased opinions from my colleagues, both men and women, and I may 
add that we agree iu every particular. 

(1) In lighting the schoolroom only the advantage of the children has 
been taken into consideration, conse([uently the light is directly damag- 
ing to the eye of the teacher. To substantiate this statement I quote 
from a letter of one of our most prominent ophthalmologists. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DLSTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 35 

You have touched upon a jioiiit that deeply interests me — the effect of school life 
upon the teacher. Each year more attention is paid to the hygiene of the schoolroom 
so far as the children are concerned, hnt the teacher is rarely regarded. I consider 
that many of the headaches, weak eyes, iind occasionally organic <lisea.scs are directly 
d '6 to the fact that the teacher has to sit for many hours each day facing the light, 
with hooks anil papers in more or less shadow. One has only to ])]ace oneself in this 
position in order to appreciate the resultant eye weariness. The more modern school 
with its lighting from the rear and left side is of great advantage to the children, 
hut of small benefit to the teacher. 

(2) The school hours are between 9 a. m. and 3 ]). m., during which 
time the teacher has to speak more or less continuously in a loud voice, 
and often in an atmosphere impregnated with chalk dust. 1 turned to 
our most experienced throat specialist for information on this point and 
here is his reply : 

There is no donhfc that the calling of teaching brings the individual so employed 
under conditions which are unfavorable for the maintenance of a normal throat. 
Long hours, protracted use of the voice, overcrowding of imperfectly ventilated 
rooms, and chalk dust and the dust otherwise produced are all recognized as etio- 
logical factors in throat diseases. I have no doubt that teachers would suffer less 
from throat lesions were their sanitary surroundings iuJi^roved upon. 

(3) The time allowed for recess is 1| hours, which would be ample if 
it really were a time for rest. But I understand that teachers are 
required to oversee the children in the play rooms. If this is the case 
when do they rest"? Some teachers have extra work to do during 
recess time. This obliges them to eat a hasty luncheon while 
physically tired; the result of this soon shows itself in digestive 
disturbances. 

(4) One word about the principals. They are re(]uired to teach as 
man}' hours as the ordinary teachers, and in addition to this are held 
responsible for the discipline of the whole building and the discipline 
in the streets. In my opinion they are the most overworked of all the 
teachers' corps. 

(5) The nervous system seems to be the tirst affected. Headache is 
a constant symptom. Sleeplessness, neuralgia, psychic and mental 
exhaustion, irritability, excitement, neurotic conditions are alarmingly 
often met with in our public-school teacher. 

(6) Lately I have had occasion to study the intiuence of school life 
upon the circulatory systeuL Several young women whom I have 
known three to four years ago to be sound and hearty have lately 
consulted me for heart trouble. They complained of palpitation, 
choking, sudden profuse perspiration, tremor, vertigo, tainting. I 
found a pulse beat of 100 to 125 per minute. There were dropsical 
effusions at the ankles. When asked how many hours they stand on 
their feet teaching I learned that they stand throughout school hours. 
There is no doubt in my mind that this highly injurious habit is alone 
responsible for those heart symptoms. 

Woman was not meant to stand for hours at a time. If it is done, 
it is invariably at the exjiense of her health. Numerous cases of pelvic 
trouble fire attributable to the jirolonged upright position. Backache 
is the first symptom which we notice, and this is soon followed hj great 
suffering during certain physiological functions. When these young 
women come to consult us we frequently find enlarged pelvic organs, 
backward displacement of the uterus and prolapsed ovaries. We are 
told that their symptoms developed gradually after several years of 
teaching in the erect position, and we are not surprised. Many of these 
cases have to undergo painful operations, and they are astonished to 
find their old troubles returning, in spite of treatment, just as soon as 
they resume their school work. I have spent hours trying to impress 



36 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

these young women with the importance of giving- up the erect posi- 
tion, but I tind it uphill work. VVbile they are not competed to stand, 
yet there exists an unwritten hiw that, in order to keep up tiie disci- 
pline of the schoohoou), the teacher must stand. " I am half dead when 
school is over," " my back nearly breaks," '' my feet sink from under 
me" — these are the expressions which i)hysicians hear almost daily. 

In asking- a number of pupil teachers from the normal school, and 
older teachers, what was the hardest part of their ])rofession, they 
invariably answer, without a moment's hesitation, "the standing!'' 
Now I would like to ask the question. If it is necessary for the main- 
tenance of disci] )line that the teachers stand, why is it not practiced in 
European countries? In the German ])ublic schools the teacher sits 
comfortably on a raised platform fiom where he or she can overlook 
and control the whole schoolroom. I hold that even an indift'erent 
teacher has better control of the children, if free from physical exer- 
tion, than the best disciplinarian if she feels as though her feet would 
not hold her any longer. 

Therefore it is to the interest of the children that the teacher should 
be free from every bodily strain in order to exercise her psychic and 
mental functions to the greatest advantage. If we expect the best 
work from teachers, it is our duty to place them under the most favor- 
able hygienic conditions possible. We must not make chronic invalids 
of the women who give the best years of their lives and all their 
energy to the children of our community. Audiatur et altera pars! 



SOME OF THE CAUSES OF SO-CALLED SCHOOL DISEASES FOUND 

IN THE HOME. 

By Samuel S. Adams, AI. I). 

The time allotted to me tonight is so short that it will be possible to 
discuss the causes of but a few of the so called school diseases found in 
the home. While I am willing to concede that many of the school 
diseases are due to the routine of school life, nevertheless, daily 
experience demonstrates the fact that many of these diseases should 
not be classed, even indirectly, as due to school life. The daily life of 
the school child is so variable, owing to the dillerence in the circum- 
stances of the i)aients, that it would seem natural to e\i)ect that not 
all of the causes of disease should be laid at the door of the schoolhouse, 
but that very many of them should be directly attributable to the 
mismanagement found at home. 

One of the causes of mental and physical breakdown in the child is 
to be found in the ambition of parents to have all the children in the 
family reach perfection. This desire the i)areuts attempt to gratify by 
forcing children of dittereut physiques to attain the same standard in 
school; in other words, we can not take the several nu^mbers of the 
same family, with their different mental and physical conditions, and 
teach them in identically the same manner; nor can we expect to take 
these same children, place them under the same daily routine and reach 
similar results; hence it should be our aim to curb this ambition in the 
parents by reminding them that the i)hysical and mental capacity of 
one child is different from that of the others, and that each one nuist be 
treated from a different standpoint. The question naturally arises as 
to the proper one to so instruct the parents. Many are inclined to 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 37 

believe tliat tlie teaclier is derelict if she fails to impress upon the 
parents the difference in the mental as well as the physical capacity of 
the children, and indeed the teacher would be guilty of this charge if 
she failed to give the proper advice, upon being asked for it; but it is 
a matter of fact that tlie parents usually ignore the teacher and reserve 
to themselves the right to determine the standard to wliich their child 
shall attain. It is as difficult for the parent to accurately determine 
his chikl's capacity as it is to supervise his physical training. It has 
occurred to the writer that the best way to remedy the defects of men- 
tal and jdiysical training in the school child is to have a properly 
trained director, whose business it shall be to suggest to the parents 
the proper method of treating childreji of dilferent capacities. Such 
suggestions, if properly made, would not give offense. 

A great cause of the so-called school diseases found in the home is 
that of ini])roper diet, and by this is not meant the scanty diet of the 
IDoor, but that common among the children of the well-to do. Fashion 
has decreed that the child shall subsist upon two scanty meals iu the 
early part of the day, and a bountifnl one late in the evening. The 
observance of such custom is responsible for many of the digestive 
disturbances which are found in the school child and would not be cor- 
rected by any rules which the school board might adopt. Let us illus- 
trate: The average child, uuder 10 years of age, is called about 7 or 
7.30 in the morning; with the necessary time consumed in making the 
toilet, and allowing for the tardiness of the cook, it is usually S.lo or 
8.30 before the child sits down to his breakfast. Before he has fairly 
gotten started someone at the table reminds him that he has but a few 
minutes before school opens. This necessitates hurry, and hurry means 
the indigestion of improperly masticated and insufficient food. 

jSTow, this child, improperly fed, hurries to school, accomplishes his 
tasks, perhaps well, perhajts sluggishly. The noon hour arrives; if now 
perchance he lives near enough to the schoolhouse to go home to his 
luncheon he rushes in, gobbles down his bread and butter and preserves, 
and winds uj) by grabbing a banana, orange, or an apple and hurries back 
to school. His work is renewed, and in the afternoon he returns home 
tired and aching, and the poor teacher gets the blame. But this is not 
all, he goes to his dinner, and now is supplied with a bountiful meal, and 
ample time in which to eat it. Let us look at his menu: Soup, mostly 
grease; meat, probably tough; vegetables of various kinds, swimming 
in butter; desserts of ])ies, cakes, puddings, or other unwholesome 
articles. In the vast nrnjority of the families this diet is permitted to 
all school children, irrespective of age. In connection with the question 
of improper diet is to be considered the indigestible products of the 
penny bakeries in which school Children indulge to such an extent. It 
is not an infrequent sight to one passing by the ordinary city school- 
house, either at the morning or noon recess, to see gronps of children 
returning from the neighboring candy shops with hands and mouths 
filled with the unwholesome wares of such establishments. Should we 
be surprised if the child complains of indigestion when we permit him 
to expend his allowance in the purchase of pies, cakes, cheap candy, 
and snch articles as are to be found in these shops? Indeed, in many 
children, old and young, their Inncheon consists of snch stuff' as a nickel 
or a dime will purchase iu these places. 

Parents are wanting in their duties when they do not insist upon 
their children taking sufficient luncheon to school with them to sustain 
them during the day. In souie of the schools of Northern cities suit- 
able luncheons have been provided for the school children. This would 



38 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLU]\!BIA. 

seem to be a wise provision, since it will afford the cliild suflicieiit 
time in which to eat a suitable meal; and I have been informed tliar the 
experiment, ])articnlarly in Boston, has been eminently successful. 
Hence, it would seem advisable to try the ex])eriment in this city, so 
as to imi)rove the digestion as well as the physique of the child. There 
sliould be reciprocal iirrangemcnts between a healthy brain and a healthy 
body, and this can only be gained by careful supervision in the nuinage- 
ment of the latter. 

Again, we hnd impro])er hours of study. The child should never 
study immediately after meals. It is a well-recognized fact, which is 
based upon the trite couplet — 

Early to bed, early to rise, 

Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and Avise. 

that children under the age of 12 years should not be permitted to sit 
up until 10 o'clock at night, and yet we frequently see that those who 
have not yet attained the school age are i)eiinitted to sit iip long after 
the })roper hour of bedtime. Indeed, in some of tlie humbler homes the 
school child sits up until 9 or 10 o'clocic prei)aring his lessons uiuler 
the most unfavorable conditions. The light in most houses, even in 
those of the well-to-do, is very jioor. Studying under such circum- 
stances is injurious to the eye, ami conseipiently injurious to the rest 
of the organism. Again, the position assumed is faulty. How many 
of us can look at our children as they sit around the gaslight pre])ariug 
their lessons for the following day and say that they are sitting in the 
proper ])osition ? 1 take it that we would lind some of them lounging 
upon the table, or resting the head upon one arm, or with their backs 
twisted, or sitting upon a high chair with their feet dangling in the air, 
or, perhaps, reclining upon the couch in some distant part of the room, 
with arms at full length, trying to catch suflicient light with which to 
read the book in their hand. If such si'cnes are of nightly occurrence, 
why should we wonder that ailments appear, and why sliould we attrib- 
ute such ailments to the fault of the school, when, in addition to the 
conditions already referred to, many are compelled to arise at <i o'clock 
in the morning.' Under such circumstances neither the mind nor the 
body secures the i)roper amount of rest. 

Lack of exercise is another factor in the developnieist of school diseases 
for which the cause must be sought in the home. By this I mean lack 
of systematic exercise. A certain part of the day should be set apart 
by the parents for rest and recreation., and should i)e rigidly enforced. 
The ])arents think that the reo^usite amount of exej'cise is gained at the 
dancing class. Such training has its advantages, but nuich danger lies 
in the abuse. Xo child can be expected to maintain that standard of 
health wliich is so necessary to good nu'utal results if permitted to 
attend dancing parties which stimulate nerve power and entail loss of 
rest. Let me also protest against that i)ernicious indulgence, theater- 
going at night, from which like result can be exi)ected. It is true that 
the modern schools are so managed that the child has suflicient time for 
exercise in the open air, but it is nevertheless true that the parents dis- 
regard the injunction of the teacher, ami will not see to it that the child 
takes the requsite amount of exercise. There is that feeling of not to 
be out done, and the wounded i)ride excited in many children by stand- 
ing lower in classes than others induces them to omit exercise and rest 
in order to succeed. 

The si)irit of emulation usually occurs at a critical period of life, — 
between 1-J and 1(5 years of age — when children should be carefully 
guarded, Avhen i)hysiological changes of utmost importance to the 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 39 

stability of the coiistitutiou are taking place, and wlien it is important 
that the i^hysique of the child should be watched. Some of the diseases 
produced by the disregard of rules for proper exercise are dyspepsia, 
constipation, debility of the muscular system, anemia, chlorosis, chorea, 
depression of spirits amounting to a mild form of melancholia, impair- 
ment of the memory, confusion of judgement, and inability to think. 
The last three of these symptoms are found in the beginning of more 
serious forms of mental diseases in the adult. These conditions are not 
hypothetical, but go to form that deplorable state known as neuras- 
thenia, or nerve impoverishment. 

One of the most frequent diseases attributed to the schools is the 
ordinary head cold. This is believed to be caused by the child's taking- 
cold in an improperly heated and ventilated schoolroom. In some 
instances this may be true, but it is far more frequent to find that the 
cause of the head cold is in the home. This suggests the important 
subject of proper clothing for children, a held in which there is ample 
room for reform. L hesitate to particularize lest I become the object of 
maternal indignation for thus rashly invading the peculiar i)rovince 
of feminine talent. Realizing this risk, 1 must nevertheless remon- 
strate against the lack of uniformity in dress. In order to avoid the 
injurious effects of change of temperature the child should wear through- 
out the season clothing uniform in texture and weight. As an evi- 
dence that this rule is violated, we have only to observe the child in her 
Sunday attire. The woolen dress is discarded for one of China silk: 
the stockings must be of finer texture for that, day; the common sense 
foot gear must be replaced by patent leathers, and the long, warm school 
coat is cast aside for the stylish reefer. 

It is generally admitted that the secretion from the nasal passage of 
one suffering from an ordinary cold is laden with organisms capable 
of reproducing the same disease in others. The question is frequently 
asked of the physician, "Why is it that when one of our children 
catches cold every other has it in succession, and probably ourselves?" 
This transmission of the micro-organism from one member of a family 
to the others is not to be wondered at when we see the same handker- 
chief is used for every child. 

A great deal of alarm is occasionally caused by the spread of conta- 
gious diseases in the schools. While I believe that the schools aid 
considerably in the spread of such diseases, I also believe that, in the 
majority of instances, the fault is that of the parents. This fault is 
largely due to an unwillingness on the part of parents to admit that 
there is a contagious disease in the family, because the other children 
would have to be kept from school. So long as such i)ractice exists we 
must expect that disease will spread. The parents should be taught 
that, although the admission of contagion in their family would entail 
a certain amount of personal hardship, still the greatest good to the 
greatest number demands that they should not conceal such diseases, 
or at least that they should keep their children away from the unin- 
fected, but susceptible, until sufiticient time has elapsed to show that 
they have not contracted the disease. 

Many of the preventable diseases could be kept out of the schoolroom 
by the inauguration of the practice now so successfully carried on in 
New York City. As soon as the school children assemble, with judi- 
cious (juestioning and keen observation the teacher is enabled to single 
out the children that appear to be below the normal standard of health. 
In such cases of suspected disease, however trivial, the child is imme- 
diately sent to a room in the building set apart for the purpose. At a 



40 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

giveu hoar a legally qaalified pbysiciau, appointed by the health depart- 
ment, N'isits the school and examines all tlie chihlren snpi)osed to be 
sick. If he sees evidences of contagions disease, or of any ailment, he 
immediately sends tlie child home and informs his parents that he can 
not return nntil a certificate of liealth from a reputable physician is 
produced. The ruling of such inspector is supreme. 

In closing let nie beg the parents to give more personal attention to 
their children, who require moral and physical treatment, for whether 
they be rich or poor their physical being demands proper food, proper 
clothing, sufficient sleej), and outdoor exercise, while their moral train- 
ing recjuires example and common sense. 



MANY OF THE CAUSES OF SO-CALLED SCHOOL DISEASES 
FOUND IN THE SCHOOL. 

Jiy Gixnge Martin Kober, M. T). 

Speaking in behalf of the Civic Center, we desire it distinctly under- 
stood that we appreciate the labors of our school trustees and Mr. 
Powell, the efficient superintendent, to elevate the standard of our pub- 
lic schools. We realize, too, that they have accomplished the utmost 
which a given amount of money would permit, and that our schools 
compare favorably with those of other cities. Uut we also believe that 
such glaring evils and defects as re])orted this evening should be 
promptly corrected, because the mental and j)hysical vigor of a nation 
depends ujion the environments of childhood and youth, when the 
whole organism is plastic and especially suscei)tible to external and 
internal imj)ressions. 

It has been truly said that it takes at least four people to understand 
a child — the doctor, the teacher, and both parents. The physicnan as 
ii student of anatomy, physiology, and hygiene, and also because he is 
called upon to treat the effects of faulty scliool hygiene, is competent to 
point out the causes and ever willing to cooperate in eftbrts to lessen 
the dangers of school life. 

SCHOOL DISEASES. 

There are quite a number of children suffering from certain physical 
defet!ts and diseases, which, because i-arely observcnl before the school 
jjcriod, have been recognized and described as diseases incident to 
school life. 

The occurrence oF such diseases in the face of the evidence already 
presented this evening can not be questioned, nor is this surprising 
when we consider that children uj)on beginning school enter upon a 
new life and environment. Up to this time they have been allowed to 
run and phiy in the open air, exercise the body and senses without 
restraint, but now, without a ])eriod of transition, they are obliged to 
remain for several hours during the day in close and often overcrowded 
schoolrooms, taxing their minds and straining their ej'es for near 
objects. This can not but be injurious to children at such a susceptible 
period of their lives. 

Am OF SCHOOLROOMS — INFLUENCE UPON THE HEALTH. 

It is said of the ancient Greeks that their teachers walked about with 
the scholars in the oi)en air, asking and answering (piestions. If so, 
their method of teaching had many advantages, because the air of the 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 41 

schoolroom lias much to do with nutritive disturbances of the child. 
In the first place, there is a decided difference in the purity of the 
country and city air, especially in the amount of carbon dioxide, organic 
matter, and germs, and this difference is still. more marked between the 
open air and the air of habitations and schoolrooms. Every excess of 
either can not fail to be without effect in the purification of the blood, 
and if continued the health must suffer. 

Forty of the 83 school buildings fall below the standard of cubic air 
space per pupil ; this, with deficient means for ventilation, means impure 
air, which in turn i esults in imjiure blood, and is therefore an important 
factor in the production of anaemia, chlorosis, and all nutritive disturb- 
ances, and paves the way for tuberculosis and nervous diseases. 

It is quite true some of the disorders attributed to school life are due 
to improper food and air at home and the pernicious penny shops, but 
it has been conclusively shown that many of these disturbances 
apparently disappear during vacation, showing that the air of the 
schoolroom has more to do with it than the home life. The question of 
ventilation of schools is one of the most important matters to be con- 
sidered in public school management, and as the Smead system, so 
largely in use in our schools, does not meet the requirements of hygiene 
it should be supplanted as rapidly as j^ossible. 

HEADACHE AND NOSEBLEED, CAUSES OF. 

Let us next consider two of the commonest of the school diseases — 
headache and epistaxis. Out of 3,504 pupils examined by Becker 974 
were suffering from headache and 405 from bleeding at the nose. The 
higher classes furnished the largest percentage, being 80 per cent, as com- 
pared with 17 per cent in the lower classes. The simultaneous occur- 
rence of these two diseases in such a large number of cases points to 
a common cause, viz, congestion of the membranes of the brain and of 
the nasal mucous membranes. Every prolonged mental effort leads to 
an increased flow of blood to the brain; this in turn causes headache, 
while nose bleed under such circumstances is easily provoked by 
inhalations of dust and dry, hot air. In other cases these symptoms are 
the result of a passive congestion, caused by bending the head over 
the work, or compression of the veins from tight-fitting collars, or an 
affection of the vasomotor nerves. Apart from these causes, headache 
maybe the result of constipation, defective light causing ocular fatigue, 
inhalation of vitiated air, and heated rooms. 

NERVOUS DISEASES, CAUSES OF. 

N^ervous disorders, such as irritability, neurasthenia, hysteria, and 
chorea are also quite common among the i^upils of the higher grades, 
especially during the period of puberty, and overtaxing the mind and 
premature school life are doubtless important factors. As already 
stated, every mental ettort means an increased flow of blood to the 
brain; and if we do not allow the brain to rest this hypera?mia may 
become constant, and give rise to nutritive changes in the brain cells 
and serious nervous disorders. Hence, after every reasonable mental 
effort, sufficient time must be given for the restoration of the intra- 
cranial circulation, which is best accomplished by outdoor exercise. 
The studies should also be regulated according to the physical and 
mental capacity of the pupils. Special precautions are necessary for 
the protection of scholars who are anxious for class honors and those 



42 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA. 

who worry over their lessons, and in consequence suffer from loss of 
sleep, appetite, and impaired nutrition. The speaker is not disposed to 
attribute every breakdown in the child to the school, when the real cause 
may be a body weakened ^by imi)roper food, bad habits, late hours, or 
overtaxing the brain by extra studies in music and painting. Indeed, 
the whole tendency of modern civilization is toward the development 
of nervous temperaments, a predisposition to which is often inherited 
and develo])ed by premature school life and by the premature use of 
tobacco, coffee, and tea. 

But tlie point I wish to emphasize is, that the school is the proper 
place to practice as well as to teach the principles of personal hygiene, 
so that the future parents may know how to guard against these dan- 
gers. 

Mental disorders are rare in school children. Out of 723 inmates of 
an asylum presided over by Erlenmeyer there were only 5 males and 
2 females admitted from the high schools. (Tcrman asylum authorities 
deny that the modern system of education is a factor in the causation 
of mental diseases. 1 believe, however, that where there is a predis- 
position to insanity we should be very careful to avoid premature 
education and every attempt to overburden the mind. 

MYOPIA (NEARSIGHTEDNESS). 

We are aware that even in children with a predisposition to this dis- 
ease it hardly ever develops before tiie seventh year. Near sight 
is also rare in the village and the lower grades of city schools, but 
increases in intensity and frequency in the higher grades. This leads 
to the conclusion that S(;hool life is a factor in the development of 
myopia. 

As the contents of the eye are liquid and the muscles of attachment 
governing the accommodation of the eye are constantly set on near 
work, ne(;essitated by small type, poor ink, faulty presswork, etc., 
with. perha})s, defective illumination, it is not surpiising that eye strain 
and elongation of the sagital axis of the eyeball results. Apart from 
this, we know that liyi)eraMiiia of the bulb of the eye, a concommitant 
condition of the brain during prolonged mental effort, leads to myopia, 
and we are likely to have passive congestion 'from bending the head 
over the work. In some cases this is due to bad i)ositions of the 
scholar, but in most cases it is the result of faulty seats and desks, 
and since these faults have been corrected the peicentage of cases of 
myopia in some of the (rerman schools has been reduced from 21 to 15 
per cent. This shows that while we may have faultj^ print, bad posi- 
tions, and overwork at home as a cause of near sight, the school itself 
is a still more important factor. 

LATERAL CURVATURE OP THE SPINE. 

This deformity is rai'e before the sixth year. It is most common in 
girls, 261 out of 300 cases being girls, while only 3!> cases occurred in 
boys. It has also been remarked that the majority of cases of lateral 
curvature are on the right side. This is probably due to the fact that 
most persons use the muscles of the right upper extremity more than 
those of the left, and in writing are very ai)t to lean the head to the left 
side. This deformity is never develojjed in i)ersons who are obliged to 
maintain the erect position and bring into simultaneous use the muscles 
of both sides. But the disease readily manifests itself in children of 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 43 

weak muscular development, especially when they assume a careless or 
twisted position. This faulty position is assumed when the seat is too 
low or the desk too high. The reason why girls are more affected than 
boys, apart from a weaker muscular development, lies in the fact that 
their skirts are apt to be swept back in the form of a pad, upon which 
they sit generally with one buttock, and the greater elevation of one 
buttock throws the si)inal column out of the vertical line, which is 
compensated by a partial twisting of the trunk. 

This deformity is entirely preventable by adjustment of the clothing, 
j)roper seats, and position. However, there are scholars who, even if 
they have x)roper seats, will sit in a stooj^ed attitude, which tends to 
contract the chest, or lean too much on one side, especially in writing. 
These cases should be left to the teacher to deal with. All of these 
causes spoken of may of course operate at home, but I hope that suffi- 
cient evidence has been presented to show that the school is largely 
instrumental in the development of these disorders, and I am surprised 
that nonadjustable seats are still in use in 295 of our public school 
rooms. 

PREVENTION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 

I can not enter into details concerning the prevention of the spread 
of infectious diseases among school children and the measures recom- 
mended by our efficient health officer; but in view of the undue preva- 
lence of diphtheria and scarlet fever, desire to emphasize the necessity 
of medical inspectors whose duty it should be to visit the schools, 
examine the pupils, and give such directions as will reduce the dangers to 
a minimum; they should supervise the sanitary condition of the schools, 
and make such recommendations as are necessary in the interest of the 
health of both pupils and teachers; and as physicians were the first to 
recognize the fact that the system of education should be made to fit 
the child, not the child the system, the teachers may expect to receive 
from such visits much aid in the discharge of their ardu.ous and respon- 
sible duties. 

In conclusion I submit the following resolution: 

Whereas the results of a joint investigation conducted by the com- 
mittee on education of the Civic Center and the Collegiate Alumnae 
reveal many serious defects in the sanitary condition of the public 
schools in the city of Washington : Therefore, be it 

Resolved, That we, the Civic Center, respectfully pray the Senate and 
House of Eepresentatives in Congress assembled for a careful considera- 
tion of the appropriations for the support of our public schools, so that 
the efforts of those in authority to improve the sanitary conditions and 
to lessen the dangers in the spread of diphtheria, scarlet fever, and 
other infectious diseases may not be frustrated by insufficient appro- 
priations. 

O 



L£ N '1 



' »^»-v<.^^>"'*-y7?<^ 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



020 407 470 7 









m'--^'m 



«'!■:• P! 



II 

iiii 



lylw 



;;(*-') 



);i's(3;-€;?if(J^'' 



:;i::;m 



;■)!:; 



:«v. :iv-^i. 



